When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and that no gap was left in it-though at the time I had not installed the doors in the gates-Sanballat and Geshem sent me a message:  “Come, let’s meet together in the villages of the Ono Valley.”  But they were planning to harm me.

So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and cannot come down.  Why should the work cease while I leave and go down to you?”  Nehemiah 6:1-3  HCSB

The book of Nehemiah is a wonderful book of rebuilding.  The book begins with Nehemiah receiving word from his brother that the Jewish remnants that had survived the exile were in great disgrace because their wall had been torn down and their gates burned in fire.   This saddened Nehemiah and he prayed to God.  He ends up being sent to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall.

When he goes to rebuild the wall he and his men come under opposition and even have to guard against physical attack. They have been mocked, ridiculed, and threatened and nothing stopped their rebuilding.  Finally his opponents sent a message asking him to come and meet with them.  Nehemiah knew that they meant to harm him so he told them that he was doing a great work and could not come down.  He then says “why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you.”

As Christians we are called to do a great work.  Our work may be outreach, it may be encouraging others, it may be teaching, it may be raising Christian children, but whatever it is we must know that it is a great work.  We must realize that there will be opponents that will try to stop the work that we are doing.  They will try to come between us and God and our relationship with Him.  We must stay focused.  We must be on guard.

We must be prepared to say that we are doing a great work and cannot come down.  No matter how tiring the work may seem, no matter how strong the opposition may be, we must be prepared to respond.  We must be prepared to continue working and not come down.

Satan will use those around us to tempt us to quit.The going may get rough at times, but we must not quit, we must not come down.  We must stay up there and continue doing our great work.

Now you may be reading this and feel that you have not yet been called to do a great work.  Well the question is have you not been called or have you not been close enough to God to hear Him calling?  Start with daily prayer and Bible reading.  Make God a priority in your life, put Him first in all you do.  When he calls you to get to work, answer the call.  Stay focused on what it is that God wants you to do.

When we focus on God’s work, he equips us, he protects us, and he provides us with shelter and rest.  There is no work that is more satisfying.

If you are having problems in a relationship, the book of Nehemiah is an excellent book of rebuilding something that has been destroyed.  It is only 13 chapters, but the dedication of Nehemiah to this seemingly impossible project helps us to realize that nothing is impossible with God’s help.

So my prayer for you today, is that whether you are working at rebuilding or doing the specific work that God has called you to do, that you realize the importance of your task and that you stick with it.  Why should the work stop while you leave it and go down to deal with your opponents?  God will deal with your opponents, you’ve got work to do.

Draw close to God, trust Him and He will guide you through your work no matter how difficult your task may seem.

Have a great day!