Would Nehemiah have quit building on Labor Day? 😂
I had to ask.
Here we are on Labor Day weekend, reading about a man who has been working nonstop to rebuild a wall. And by Nehemiah 6, they're almost there. The wall is up and the gaps are closed. They just need to finish the gates. This would be a good time for a break, right?
Except Nehemiah wasn't being invited down from the wall to rest. He was being invited down to be distracted. Sanballat and Geshem sent word asking him to meet them. Nehemiah knew something wasn't right, so he answered back with “I am engaged in a great work, so I can’t come. Why should I stop working to come and meet with you?” Nehemiah 6:3 NLT
And they didn't ask once.
They asked four times.
Four times Nehemiah had an opportunity to step away from what God had called him to do, and four times his answer was the same.
No.
We've talked a lot during this Rise & Build series about giving God our next yes, but today I realized something else. Sometimes protecting your yes to God also requires us to say no to something else.
Not every invitation deserves our yes. Not every conversation needs our participation. Not every opinion requires our explanation. And when Nehemiah wouldn't come down, they tried rumors instead. They accused him of trying to make himself king.
And I love his response. He just straight up tells them, That's not true. You made that up. And then he keeps on building. Whew. I don't know about you but I could learn something there. How much time do we waste coming down from our wall trying to explain ourselves to people who have already decided what they believe about us? Then someone tries to scare Nehemiah into hiding in the Temple. It sounds like concern for his safety, but Nehemiah recognizes that God didn't send this person.
We have to learn that Not every voice that sounds concerned about us is speaking for God. Nehemiah knew his assignment well enough to recognize what didn't belong in it.
And then the wall was finished.
After Fifty-two days they finished the walls.
The same people who mocked them, threatened them and tried everything they could to stop them eventually had to realize that this work had been accomplished with God's help.
We don't need to prove what God told us to build, We just need to finish it.
So rest when God tells you to rest. Even builders need a Sabbath. But don't confuse rest with distraction, and don't climb down from an assignment God told you to stay faithful to just because something else is demanding your attention.
Love Pastor Mandy
MandiesDandies / Ark of Hope
Daily reading Nehemiah 6
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