Avoiding The Side Roads Series

Nehemiah 6 Stay off the Side Roads

Growing up, our family, along with my dad’s parents and some of his siblings, used to go to Black Rock Mountain, North Carolina, to camp for our vacation. We’d all go to the Cherokee Reservation, play in area creeks, fish in the trout farms and such. Didn’t have a lot of money, but we knew how to entertain ourselves.

Well, one of the things my dad enjoyed doing for entertainment was what he called, “Getting back to nature.” Basically that meant, all of a sudden he’d take an unplanned side road and just see where it led.

Occasionally we’d end up someplace neat, or we’d see something neat. I remember one time we ended up on a dead end road, in the middle of no where, surrounded on three sides by Cherokee Indian homes. The mother from one of the homes came out with her children, with a pail and a ladle and offered us all something to drink from the pail.

It turns out that she made bead work souvenirs that she sold in in one of the reservation stores, and she taught me how to do some bead work. That was a neat, “back to nature.”

On other occasions the side trips were not as fun, like the time we ended up at a dump, or the time we ended up on a bombing range in the Ocala National Forest, with planes flying about 50 feet over our heads. Not as much fun.

Whether the destination ended up being an interesting one, or a dangerous one, these side trips all had one thing in common, they delayed us from getting to where we were heading.

All of Nehemiah chapter 6, is an account of Nehemiah fighting to keep from getting sidetracked, fighting to accomplish what God has called him to do.

Turn with me this morning . . . as we see together, “How to Stay off the Side Roads.”

- Read Nehemiah 6:1-19

Nehemiah and the people are making great progress. They are moving with incredible speed. They have now completed the main wall, all it lacks are the gates.

You ever notice how the attacks increase when you are close to finishing a job? The distractions increase when you are almost finished.

When did Bathsheba catch David’s eye? Late in the game when when he had battled countless enemies, beaten other nations, and avoided Saul’s plots. He was king. Things were looking good, and then he looked next door.

When did Solomon get distracted? He had prayed for wisdom. He had built great works, written many proverbs, studied the meaning of life, had people coming from around the world to listen to his wisdom, and then his wives began to lea him astray.

Moses had led the people out of Egypt, had been to the top of the mountain and gotten the 10 Commandments, and had ;ed the people in the wilderness for 40 years; then he lost his temper and lost the ability to go into the promised land.

It is often when things are going well, when the completion is within sight, that the Devil pulls out all the stops to lead us astray, to keep us from finishing what God called us to do.

In this passage we see the records of multiple attempts to keep Nehemiah from finishing. Look there again please at verse 1

- Read Nehemiah 6:1-4

1. Satan’s Scheme: Intrigue

Come’ let’s meet together.

Now, on the surface this seems like a reasonable request. Come on, let’s meet together.

There were probably people who told Nehemiah, “You really need to meet with those people. You need to calm their concerns, address their questions. After all, we’;re all on the same team here. Aren’t we supposed to be peacemakers?

My word, if I had a Dollar for every time someone has told me, “Didn’t Jesus say, By this may all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.’ It’s not doctrine that marks us as one of His. It’s the way we love and care for one another.

We need to focus on the things we have in common, and overlook the things where we differ. After all, can’t we work together?

In some situations that is true, but in others it is not. It may sound nice and pleasant to strive to get along with everyone, but that diocesan’t mean I’m gonna compromise the truth, just so we can get along.

A couple of weeks ago, one of the youth leaders at MPC took offense at us having the flag of Israel showing. He asked, “What’s that here for?” Gladys explained and he answered, “Well, I don’t want to hear about politics.”

As the Lord would have it, Gladys happened to be teaching the youth that night, on how God has worked through Israel throughout the Bible.