6 At last the wall was completed to half its height around the entire city, for the people had worked with enthusiasm.
7 But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites heard that the work was going ahead and that the gaps in the wall of Jerusalem were being repaired, they were furious. 8 They all made plans to come and fight against Jerusalem and throw us into confusion. 9 But we prayed to our God and guarded the city day and night to protect ourselves.
10 Then the people of Judah began to complain, “The workers are getting tired, and there is so much rubble to be moved. We will never be able to build the wall by ourselves.”
11 Meanwhile, our enemies were saying, “Before they know what’s happening, we will swoop down on them and kill them and end their work.”
12 The Jews who lived near the enemy came and told us again and again, “They will come from all directions and attack us!” 13 So I placed armed guards behind the lowest parts of the wall in the exposed areas. I stationed the people to stand guard by families, armed with swords, spears, and bows.
14 Then as I looked over the situation, I called together the nobles and the rest of the people and said to them, “Don’t be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!”
15 When our enemies heard that we knew of their plans and that God had frustrated them, we all returned to our work on the wall. 16 But from then on, only half my men worked while the other half stood guard with spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. The leaders stationed themselves behind the people of Judah 17 who were building the wall. The laborers carried on their work with one hand supporting their load and one hand holding a weapon. 18 All the builders had a sword belted to their side. The trumpeter stayed with me to sound the alarm.
19 Then I explained to the nobles and officials and all the people, “The work is very spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. 20 When you hear the blast of the trumpet, rush to wherever it is sounding. Then our God will fight for us!”
Introduction:
As we continue to discover how God wants to make a fresh start in our lives we now must ask the question – How do we stand against the pressure to quit?
Checking out is easy. There is less stress. And it is true that wisdom is needed when to say NO and when to persist and just GO!
Even if you are not a person of faith – we all find common ground in the observation that the secret of success is to simply outlast your critics.
I love pithy sayings! One of the earliest phrases I learned was an inspirational quote attributed to Vince Lombardi – famous coach of Green Bay Packers, “Quitters never win and Winners never quit!”
When he was seven years old, his family was forced out of their home on a legal technicality, and he had to work to help support them. At age nine, his mother died. At 22, he lost his job as a store clerk. He wanted to go to law school, but his education wasn’t good enough. At 23, he went into debt to become a partner in a small store. At 26, his business partner died, leaving him a huge debt that took years to repay. At 28, after courting a girl for four years, he asked her to marry him. She said no. At 37, on his third try he was elected to Congress, but two years later, he failed to be reelected. At 41, his four-year-old son died. At 45, he ran for the Senate and lost. At 47, he failed as the vice-presidential candidate. At 49, he ran for the Senate again, and lost. At 51, he was elected president of the United States. His name was Abraham Lincoln, a man many consider the greatest leader the country of the United States ever had. Some people get all the breaks.
How do we stand against the pressure to quit
… fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes… Then our God will fight for us!” (Nehemiah 4:14b, 20b, NLT)
The Story in Nehemiah is about the Jewish people rebuilding the broken the walls of Jerusalem. At a deeper level it is about restoring what God had intended for the people of Israel. But the conditions for the rebuilding project was fraught with difficulties and opposition.
And in this story we see Nehemiah leading people who are facing the pressure to quit. What we see in this story is how Nehemiah led the people to fight; to battle through as they continued to build.
And we need to learn from this story in God’s Word how do we fight against the pressures that overwhelm us, how do we battle as we continue to build into our lives a faith in Christ that changes us from the inside out.
The first thing we learn in the inevitable reality of…
Hitting the Wall
Fear and fatigue can bring us to the quitting point.
At last the wall was completed to half its height around the entire city… then the people of Judah began to complain (Nehemiah 4:6,10, NLT)
The halfway point is a dangerous time for a lot of us. In this story we heard there had been plenty of enthusiasm. But now there was opposition. The old enemies of the Jewish people did not want them to emerge and re-establish themselves.
Now that the wall was half way built – the success they achieved activated more resistance. That is true at a human level and at a spiritual level.
When we carry out God’s will we must expect opposition. Jesus spoke of this opposition reality. Sermon on the Mount – God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Matthew 5:11
This opposition is rooted in the spiritual reality of Satan and the forces of darkness. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:11
What are the things that are opposing you – bringing you fear right now? Failure, shame, looking foolish, others backing away, critics, unexpected problems, spiritual warfare?
And the other factor when you get halfway in the work you believe God is calling you to do is tiredness. Listen to what is recorded in this story. Then the people of Judah began to complain, “The workers are getting tired, and there is so much rubble to be moved. We will never be able to build the wall by ourselves.” Nehemiah 4:10
The rocks they were moving were huge when Brent and I were talking about this message. It is understandable that fatigue set in.
Boulder size tedium, tests, trials all tire us out. We are facing challenges that are not easily solved. We are fragile and we in our pride we overestimate our abilities and don’t want to ask for help. Where are you getting weary? What is contributing to your physical, mental and spiritual fatigue?
Enemies about – weariness within. Fear and Fatigue makes us hit the wall…Nehemiah faced Psychological warfare – physical threats – personal discouragement. It would have been easy for him to say…
- I am done.
- I am finished
- It is time to quit
When you commit to live God’s way we have to face a simple reality of life and the path of faith –
When you hit the halfway point, brace yourself for troubles and commit yourself to continue.
Let us not get surprised when faith, obedience to the way of Christ gets hard. Let us not think that difficulties means God is not in it. Every single advance in Nehemiah’s mission is met by opposition, and there’s trouble. Every time he makes a little headway, there is more trouble.
I don’t know about you, but there’s a part of me that thinks: Life ought to be easy. If I try to do a good thing, I ought to get credit for it, and life ought to be easy.
Someone once remarked: “No soldier ever goes into battle and says, ‘Hey! They’re shooting at me!”
Transition: But in this story of Nehemiah we also discover how we keep going, how spiritually and practically we get our…
Second Wind
God’s power and presence overcomes fear and fatigue.
Then as I looked over the situation, I called together the nobles and the rest of the people and said to them, “Don’t be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!”… then our God will fight for us!” (Nehemiah 4:14, 20, NLT)
This source of strength for Nehemiah is another reality that we cannot avoid. To experience God transformational work in us we need to depend on God’s power and presence..
Nehemiah first and foremost depended on God. This was at the heart of Nehemiah. This dependence was demonstrated in his prayers.
Chapter 1 – O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, listen to my prayer!…“The people you rescued by your great power and strong hand are your servants.
Chapter 4 – “Hear us, our God, for we are being mocked. May their scoffing fall back on their own heads,
Chapter 5 – Remember, O my God, all that I have done for these people, and bless me for it.
All throughout the bible the way of faith is one where we constantly lean into God. Every day in every way we practise the presence of God in our lives.
Hear God speak to us through his word…
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble Psalm 46:1
But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31
But (Christ) he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Ephesians 6:1
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13
SideBar: Dependence on God lets us see how God always uses the good to foil evil.
Author J. R. R. Tolkien once wrote in a letter:
“…evil labours with vast power and perpetual success in vain: preparing always only the soil for unexpected good to sprout in.”
Chris Armstrong, “9/11, History, and the True Story”, Christian History Connection,
Dependence on God moved Nehemiah to a place of action. He rallied the people to return working on the wall. He reminded them to not let fear of the enemy distract them, and to be encouraged because the great and glorious God is with them.
But he also called them to fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!”
Other people are depending on your spiritual choices, your faith, your love and service in the name of Christ. You are a light in their world. Giving up doesn’t just impact you but so many others around you.
So how do you and I fight and stand against the pressure to quit?
Remember that Almighty God is with us and he can renew our strength to overcome obstacles.
Shofar Moment – The Ram’s Horn – The Trumpet Blast
In the story we are told that Nehemiah gave the people these instructions – When you hear the blast of the trumpet, rush to wherever it is sounding. Then our God will fight for us! That trumpet was a ram’s horn – in Hebrew it was called a shofar.
So if you were at the wall of Jerusalem – this is what you would have heard…PLAY SHOFAR CLIP.
We don’t have ram’s horn today but we still those trumpet /shofar moments that alert to the spiritual danger, that God is with us and that we need each other.
What are trumpet moments – weekly worship, journey group, our times of reading scripture, a commitment to be a spiritual friend, a time of quiet and solitude.
Let’s have a trumpet/shofar moment right now. As Kevin comes I want to ask – If you are facing something in your life – the pressure to quit is strong – in your walk with God, in a friendship, in an attempt to reconcile, in an area of service, in your call that God is placing on your life, in your parenting, your marriage, your struggle to overcome an addiction. – raise your hand to say I need prayer – I don’t know what to pray.
Pray – Lord I am hitting the wall – I feel the opposition. Lord I know I am in a spiritual battle. I can’t overcome all these problems on my own. God instill within by your Holy Spirit the will to fight, to persist to persevere. To simply say in faith, “All right, God. I lean into you. I will walk with others by faith. I’ll be faithful. I won’t give up.”
At the end of the service – if you need a time of prayer Kevin/Seth will meet you at the front for a ministry time…
Reflection Questions (Questions are based on Nehemiah 4)
- Think of a time you wanted to quit because of fatigue (you had enough!) and another time you wanted to quit because your were afraid (of failure, leadership ability, etc.). What are some differences and similarities between these experiences?
- The Jews had the wall half completed when the opposition began getting serious (cf., Neh 4:7,8). Why do you think this happened then? How can we better plan for opposition in the middle of our journey?
- Why do you think Nehemiah encouraged people to think of their family and neighbours as well as God? (cf., Neh 4:14) How does this connect to Jesus teaching for us? How does thinking about God help you not to quit? How does thinking of your family and friends help you not to quit?
- Nehemiah used the trumpet (shofar) to rally the people together at critical times of threat. We are better together! What are some ways Satan tries to divide us in difficult times? What can we learn from Nehemiah 4 to help withstand Satan’s efforts against us.
- Notice how the rubble was interfering with the work (Neh 4:10-12)? What types of spiritual rubble can make us want to quit? What steps will you do this week to clear the rubble for your life and push through the quitting point?