We’re in the pre-series "Getting Ready for Something More."
Last time we saw Nehemiah, a Jew living in exile in the foreign land of Persia, serving as the king’s cupbearer, the person who tested the food and drink served to the king to make sure it wasn’t poisoned. He had received a report of how the city of Jerusalem was still a pile of rubble and he immediately began praying with fasting. For four months he prays. And then he records:
1 In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before; 2 so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.” I was very much afraid, 3 but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” Neh. 2:1-4 (NIV)
We’ll pick up on the king’s response in a little bit, but for now, skip ahead to the last verse of Nehemiah chapter 2 - verse 20…
"The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding…"
Where did that kind of “Unshakeable Confidence in Something More” come from? What was it about Nehemiah that he could boldly say, “The God of heaven will give us success!” That’s stirring! Nehemiah expected a very positive outcome – a successful outcome! He expected “something more” from God!
This was NOT because Nehemiah lived on easy street. What’s so encouraging about his story is that he overcame such challenging obstacles! This encourages us that we too CAN receive “something more” from God – and it lets us know HOW it can be done!
Chapter two of Nehemiah’s book describes THREE PRIMARY ENEMIES each of us must face and overcome in order to experience confidence:
1) Personal insecurity. We’ve all got to break the spell of our own negative thoughts and emotions. Each of us needs to see ourselves the way God sees us. We need to believe in ourselves the way that God believes in us!
2) Pesky circumstances. Any condition or situation that chronically stands in the way of the realization of God’s best for our lives must be dealt with head on. Nehemiah is an inspiring example especially here.
3) Pessimists. These are the people who mock us with their negativity and tell us that it can’t be done. If you’re going to experience “something more” in your life you’ve got to come up with a plan to deal with the people who confront you with all their contradictory and gloomy obstinance!
How am I supposed to handle my personal insecurities, those pesky circumstances and the pessimists? With confidence! Confidence is the primary requirement for receiving “something more” from God! The Bible says,
Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. And it is impossible to please God without faith… Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. Hebrews 11:1 & 6 (NLT)
Nehemiah’s example is hard to beat when it comes to STRATEGIES FOR BUILDING UNSHAKEABLE CONFIDENCE. He dealt effectively with his own personal insecurity, with pesky circumstances and with pessimists!
Here’s how he did it and how you and I can too!
The FIRST STRATEGY FOR BUILDING UNSHAKEABLE CONFIDENCE:
SHAKE YOUR PERSONAL INSECURITY BY PLACING REVERENCE FOR GOD BEFORE FEAR OF MAN.
I like Nehemiah’s authenticity, his transparency. He said, in verse two, when the king asked him why he looked so sad, “I was very much afraid.”
For four months he had prayed with fasting that God would open a door to allow him to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls around the city. But when the time came to get permission from the king his mouth got dry and his knees got wobbly. His apprehension was not unfounded. His life was in the hands of the most powerful man on earth at the time. Just showing up with a sad face in the presence of eastern monarchs could have been fatal. Besides, Artaxerxes could have mistaken Nehemiah’s motives as those of a rebel. He could have concluded that Nehemiah wanted to use his position in the king’s court to lead Israel away from the Persian Empire.
So how does Nehemiah overcome his personal insecurity? The key is in verse 4 where we pick up the story.
The king said to me, “What is it you want?” Then I prayed to the God of heaven.
Here’s how you handle personal insecurities, feelings of inadequacy, and all other fears and anxieties.
Before you talk to your self or anyone else, talk to God first. This really works! This is not just a pious platitude. Why? How and why does focusing on God work? When our focus is on God and doing what He wants we rise above the fear of rejection of men.
Nehemiah knew that he didn’t just work for the king – he worked for the King of Kings! His ultimate dependence was upon God, not man. That’s why he was able to run the risk of rejection.
The Bible says,
Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety. Proverbs 29:25 (NLT)
One of my heroes, Brother Andrew, who for years risked his life and smuggled Bibles and ministered to Christ followers behind the Iron Curtain when it was still in existence, relates how an American college professor was ridiculing students who believed in the biblical account in 2 Kings 19 where the Syrians lade siege to Israel and God came in the night and defended them by destroying 185,000 soldiers in the Syrian camp and the Israelites arose the next morning to find all those dead bodies.
The college professor called this a coincidence. A young man protested, saying it was God deliverance of His people. God had answered the prayers of His people and had thwarted the evil plans of their enemies.
“Now listen,” said the professor, “if you walk through the jungle and all of a sudden a lion begins to pounce on you, and as he is flying through midair a coconut drops from a tree and lands on the head of the lion and knocks him out so you can escape, would you call that coincidence or God’s involvement?”
The student thought for a little while, with everybody staring at him. Then he replied, “Well, I might call THAT coincidence. But if I walk in the jungle and all of a sudden 185, 000 lions jump at me and as they are in midair, ready to land on me, at that moment 185,000 coconuts dropped on their heads, then I would not call THAT coincidence. I would call that God’s mighty intervention!”
The fact that King Artaxerxes didn’t execute Nehemiah when he showed up sadly in his court because of the tremendous burden he was carrying for Jerusalem wasn’t a coincidence either! And what the king does next isn’t coincidental! Nehemiah had been talking to God, not fearing man, and God had been listening!
Which brings us to our next strategy for building unshakeable confidence. Once I’ve determined that I’m going to overcome my personal insecurity by close personal relationship with God, once I begin focusing on Him and reverencing Him above everyone else, next,
SPURN PESKY CIRCUMSTANCES BY PREPARING FOR THE BLESSINGS GOD WILL SEND!
Here’s the key. Nehemiah had been doing more than praying for four months – he had been planning! Planning because his dependence upon God had given him the confidence that God was going to answer his prayers! He was going to need to be ready to spring to action when the time came.
Verse 5: Then I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it. 6 Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you get back? It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.
7 I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me with safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? 8 And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I occupy?” And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me the king granted my requests. 9 So I went to the governors of Trans-Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me. Nehemiah 2:5-9 (NIV)
Nehemiah envisioned a difficult task ahead. Making the 800-mile journey back to Jerusalem and rebuilding the walls around the city wasn’t going to be a cakewalk. And he planned it all out ahead of time! Confidence!
What journeys are you anticipating in your life? What walls need to be rebuilt? If you’re a Christ follower you needn’t sit around sulking. Confidence is not about sitting on your hands while you’re waiting. You need to get busy planning for the time when God answers your prayers!
Waiting on God is biblical but so is organization and preparation. One of the reasons God makes us wait is so that we can be ready when He blesses us with the answers to our prayers! Nehemiah had been planning. When the king asked him how long he’d planned on being gone he had an answer ready! He was also ready with the details of what it would take to get the job done - letters from the king announcing that his authority was behind Nehemiah’s trip and his project to rebuild. Timber to do the job.
Look into the Word of God and see that we too have letters of permission from our King to get the job done!
7 “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Jesus – Matthew 7:7-8 (NLT)
9 "If your children ask for bread, which of you would give them a stone? 10 Or if your children ask for a fish, would you give them a snake? 11 Even though you are bad, you know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more your heavenly Father will give good things to those who ask him! Jesus – Matthew 7:9-11 (NCV)
In addition to the letters and the lumber the king gave Nehemiah even more than he asked for! Verse 9 says that the king sent officers and cavalry with him! The Bible says, (and we ended the message last week with this verse of Scripture)
With God’s power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine. Ephesians 3:20 (NCV)
Someone once said that if someone prays for rain you know they have confidence that their prayer is going to be answered because they carry their umbrella with them!
When you pray for God to rain down His blessings on you have your umbrella ready! Prepare for the blessings of God believing that it is only a matter of time before they come. And when they come, you’ll be ready for them! Live expectantly!
So Nehemiah’s example teaches me that I overcome personal insecurity by reverencing God instead of fearing man. I jump the hurdle of pesky circumstances by preparing for the blessings God promises to send!
But the job’s not done yet. There’s one more battle when it comes to being the confident person to whom God gives “something more.” I have to effectively deal with the complainers, the gloomy Gus’, the killjoys, the party poopers, the wet blankets, the worry warts, the scaremongers, the voices of doom, the doubters, the scoffers, the skeptics, the cynics, the complainers, the whiners…
How do you maintain your confidence when there are pessimists in the vicinity?
11 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, (they heard about Nehemiah obtaining the king’s blessing to rebuild Jerusalem) they were very much disturbed that someone had come to promote the welfare of the Israelites.
But Nehemiah didn’t let their pessimism and sour attitudes dissuade him. He went around the city of Jerusalem and inspected the damage.
16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work.
17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” 18 I also told the about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king had said to me.
They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work.
19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. “What is this you are doing?” they asked. “Are you rebelling against the king?”
20 I answered them by saying, “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it. Nehemiah 2:16-20 (NIV)
It’s not so much what Nehemiah did and said as what he didn’t do that matters here.
When the pessimists, naysayers and critics assail you for having confidence in the “something more” God has for your life you don’t do what Nehemiah didn’t do. Nehemiah didn’t let the armchair quarterbacks sideline him! Which bring us to our strategy for managing negative comments and pessimistic people:
SIDESTEP THE CRITICS BY FOCUSING ON “SOMETHING MORE”
Nehemiah simply didn’t waste much time on his critics. He knew the task before him was from God. He knew God had blessed him with the tools to get the job done. He was confident that the project would be completed whether the killjoys liked it or not!
Several of you have heard of “The Law of the Garbage Truck.” Some of you have sent this to me in emails over the last few years. I always re-read it when someone sends it to me because I need to be reminded of it. It was written by David J. Pollay and it goes like this:
How often do you let other people’s nonsense change your mood? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day? Unless you’re the Terminator, you’re probably set back on your heels. However, the mark of your success is how quickly you can refocus on what’s important in your life. Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. And I learned it in the back of a New York City taxicab. Here’s what happened.
I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, the car skidded, the tires squealed, and at the very last moment our car stopped just one inch from the other car’s back-end.
I couldn’t believe it. But then I couldn’t believe what happened next. The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. How do I know? Ask any New Yorker, some words in New York come with a special face. And for emphasis, he threw in a one -finger salute, as if his words were not enough.
But then here’s what really blew me away. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was friendly. So, I said, “Why did you just do that!? This guy could have killed us!” And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, “The Law of the Garbage Truck™.” He said:
Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they look for a place to dump it. And if you let them, they’ll dump it on you.
So when someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Believe me. You’ll be happier.
So I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the street? It was then that I said, “I don’t want their garbage and I’m not going to spread it anymore.”
I began to see Garbage Trucks. Like in the movie “The Sixth Sense,” the little boy said, “I see Dead People.” Well now “I see Garbage Trucks.” I see the load they’re carrying. I see them coming to dump it. And like my taxi driver, I don’t take it personally; I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on…
See, Roy Baumeister, a psychology researcher from Florida State University, found in his extensive research that you remember bad things more often than good things in your life. You store the bad memories more easily, and you recall them more frequently.
So the odds are against you when a Garbage Truck comes your way. But when you follow The Law of the Garbage Truck™, you take back control of your life. You make room for the good by letting go of the bad.
The best leaders know that they have to be ready for their next meeting. The best sales people know that they have to be ready for their next client. And the best parents know that they have to be ready to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses, no matter how many garbage trucks they might have faced that day. All of us know that we have to be fully present, and at our best for the people we care about.
The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their lives.
What about you? What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by?
Here’s my bet: You’ll be happier."
Garbage truck people. They’re everywhere. Especially pessimists. People who say to you or even behind your back, “It won’t work! It’s never been done before! Who do you think you are?” When you walk by faith and confidence in God people who walk by sight will be intimidated by you! So you can always expect opposition and negativity when you try to do “something more.” The key is to recognize it for what it is and not let it stop you!
Nehemiah says, “just scoot over boys…
“The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it.
That’s the sad thing about being a negative person by the way, you don’t get to share in the blessings of God! We all venture into the land of negativity once in a while but if you find it’s a permanent address you need to deal with it if you want “something more” from God.
Confidence. We’ve got to have it in order to get “something more” from God. In order to have it we’ve got to defeat the 3 primary enemies of confidence.
Shake your personal insecurity by placing reverence for God before fear of man.
Spurn pesky circumstances by preparing for the blessings God will send!
Sidestep the critics by focusing on the “something more” God has for you!
