“who were rebuilding the wall. The laborers who carried materials worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other.”NEHEMIAH 4:17 · BSB · READ THE CHAPTER →Hebrew: chomah (H2346), wall
Jerusalem's walls had lain in rubble for well over a century. Nehemiah, cupbearer to the king of Persia, wept when he heard, prayed for months, and then went home to rebuild them.
As soon as the work started, so did the opposition. Sanballat and Tobiah mocked, then threatened, then plotted to attack. Nehemiah's answer was not to stop building or to stop fighting. It was to do both. Every builder worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other, with a sword strapped to his side.
That is the Christian life. We are builders and soldiers at the same time. Some believers only build. They serve, give and plan, but never fight in prayer, so the enemy tears down what they make. Others only fight. They are always in battle mode, but nothing gets built. Nehemiah did both.
When his enemies tried to lure him away to a meeting, he sent back one of the great lines in Scripture: “I am doing a great work and cannot come down.” He refused to be distracted.
The wall was finished in fifty-two days, and even their enemies realized the work had been done by God. Whatever God has called you to build, keep your sword close and your hands moving. And when distraction calls, tell it you can't come down.
- What has God called you to build right now?
- Are you better at building or at fighting? Which have you neglected?
- What distraction keeps calling you down off the wall?
Write Nehemiah 6:3 on a card and put it where you work: “I am doing a great work and cannot come down.”
Faith isn't believing God will do what you want. It's trusting Him when He doesn't.