Reignಮಾದರಿ

The walls surrounding the holy city had been reduced to rubble—and in the ancient Near East, a city without walls was a city without honor. That simply wouldn’t do for Jerusalem, the city that God called His own. Nehemiah had been appointed the governor, and he led the people in constructing a new wall for the city, even as enemies did everything in their power to try and stop them. When the wall was almost finished, three of these enemies—Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem the Arab—tried to pull Nehemiah away from his work. They sent messengers imploring him to meet with them. But Nehemiah stayed faithful. He realized that these men only wanted to harm him. Besides that, any “meeting” would only be a distraction from the task God had called him to—completing Jerusalem’s wall. So he just kept working and overseeing the work. Nehemiah refused to come down.

Four times, these enemies of Judah sent messengers to Nehemiah. Four times, Nehemiah replied the same way. The fifth message came with a veiled threat. Sanballat planned to let the emperor know that Nehemiah was planning a revolt. Even that didn’t stop Nehemiah from working. He simply prayed to God: “Strengthen my hands” (Nehemiah 6:9). Nehemiah didn’t allow distractions and threats to sideline him. Because God had given him “a great project” (v. 3), he resolved not to give up, and his work was completed in just fifty-two days. If God has given you a work (and His Word promises He has—see Ephesians 2:10), don’t let anyone or anything pull you away from it. Just keep working! Just keep working! You were made for such a time and such a work as this.