What we learn last week:
• God uses anyone who is willing to offer themselves to serve. He looks for availability, not capability.
• So you and I have a place in God’s church, and being a member of this Body, our contribution is valuable and vital.
• Since we are different (and we need to be different), we don’t compete and compare, we simply COOPERATE with one another. The more we can do that, the more we can accomplish.
• No man can do everything. All men can do something. And God is counting on you.
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What are you going to do when others ridicule your faith, laugh at you or come against you?
Read Nehemiah 4:1-23
In Nehemiah 4, almost everything goes wrong all at once.
• In Chapter 1, we looked at how Nehemiah prayed.
• In Chapter 2, we saw how God moved the King and provided the resources.
• Last week, we saw the unity and the dedication of the people at the walls.
We saw the opposition to the rebuilding surfacing, and growing in intensity.
• It started with ridicule. This is easiest way to oppose something you do not like. You belittle the work or the people doing it.
• Shakespeare called this “paper bullets of the brain”. They are just words (paper bullets) but unfortunately they are effective.
We know they are effective because we have all tasted it.
• No one is immune from this – we remember when people laugh at us, or make fun of us, just one wrong word or one hurtful comment and we can have sleepless nights.
• We can be defeated very easily by words.
• James says the tongue is just a small part of the body, but it has great impact – one wrong word, a small spark can set a great forest on fire (James 3:4-6).
“What are these feeble Jews doing?” How could anyone as weak as they were hope to rebuild the city’s walls?
• The wall had been built by soldiers and trained workers, more numerous and stronger than they are, but now… Just look at them, even perfume-makers and goldsmiths have to come out.
• “Will they offer sacrifices?” – are they going to pray to their God and ask for help again? Are you sure your God can help you?
• Tobiah’s mockery was more graphic: “What they are building – if even a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones!” (v.3)
What do you do when people laughs at you?
• Chances are, you will take it to heart. You keep thinking about it. You allow the words to replay itself in your mind, again and again. You argue back, you want to retaliate.
• Surprisingly, Nehemiah did not even respond to them, nor commented on what they say. His immediate response (in verse 4) was in fact, a prayer to God.
• He did not even talk to men; he spoke to God and asked Him to judge them. Let the perfect Judge pass the sentence on them.
• Nehemiah kind-of ignore their words. He did not bottle up his feelings or think about it too much. He simply unloaded his hurts to God.
And then he went right on with the work.
• Since he has already given them to God and need not be too concerned, he went back to his routine. That’s the wisest thing to do.
• Verse 6 says “the people worked with all their heart” – in order words, they chose to FOCUS on what they need to do, and ignore all the scorn and ridicule.
We cannot stop ridicule. There will be people who will laugh at us, or make fun even of our faith, or over the smallest of things because of their ill-intent or jealousy.
• But we can CHOOSE to not let these damning words discourage or hurt us. We can choose to PRAY and leave them to God.
• The things people say may hurt us, but they can never harm us, unless we let them get into our system and poison us.”
• Don’t press the replay button and keep replaying those words in our mind. You are not doing yourself any good.
Pray and let go of them. Don’t be distracted by them. When people laugh at us, laugh it off.
• Get back to your routine and FOCUS on what God has told you to do. Be concerned about God’s disapproval, and not men’s disapproval.
• You cannot please everybody. Even Jesus, good and perfect, faced wrongly and unjustified accusations and ridicule.
Rev Albert Ting in his sermon last month reminded me of this story about an old man and his grandson who have just bought a donkey.
They were walking home and some bystanders laughed at them, “How stupid, and what a waste of money. You buy a donkey and not sit on it.” Upon hearing that, the old man let the boy ride on the donkey, and he walked beside them.
He heard some people mumbling, "Look at that, the poor old man walking and struggling on his feet, while that strong young boy, who is totally capable of walking, sits on the donkey!" The criticism cut deeply, so he changed positions.
The old man started riding the donkey while the boy walked. Sure enough onlookers started grumbling. "Just look at how the adult is abusing the child, making that poor little boy suffers! How can he do that?"
To avoid further criticism, the old man decided to get the boy up onto the donkey. They both started riding.
You guessed it. People complained, "Look at those two fellows making that poor donkey suffers. How can she take the weight of two people?"
So he and his grandson jumped down and they both started walking. Back at how it was at the beginning.
If you are going to listen to everything people say you will not going to accomplish much.
• This is the formula for failure – “Try to please everybody.”
• We seek to please God and focus on doing what we know is God’s will, that which is good and right.
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Because the people ignored them and gone ahead with the work, and “the gaps were being closed”, the enemies were very angry (v.7).
• They resorted to violence. If words fail, we will fight you.
• You see in politics, recently in Egypt, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, North Korea… If talks fail, we will threaten you with violence.
Again the people prayed - this is always their first response, not a last resort.
Now the situation was getting intense. The threat came at a low point in the people’s morale.
• They had already been working for weeks as the walls have gone up half its height (v.6).
• But now, in addition to just working on the walls they had to defend themselves.
To realize the full force of this threat, we need to visualize it geographically.
• Samaria (Sanballat) was to the North. Ammon (Tobiah) was to the East. The Arabs were to the South. The people of Ashdod (or Philistia) were to the West.
• In order words, the opposition coalition literally surrounded Jerusalem.
Verse 10 revealed that the people were getting tired – “The strength of the labourers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.”
• The work has taken a toll on them.
Verse 11: Also our enemies said, "Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work." 12 Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, "Wherever you turn, they will attack us."
• Rumours had it that the enemies would be launching a surprise attack. They had to be vigilant all the time, even at nights.
• “Ten times over” is a Hebrew phrase meaning “many times”. They had been hearing of the same threat over and over again.
No wonder their morale was at rock bottom – they were tired, frustrated, the work was half done, and now they feared for their lives.
• Do you have similar experience - there are tons of things to do or books to read, you are tired and the deadline is near, your colleagues aren’t helping (even making fun of you), and nothing is moving your way? Do you feel like giving up?
If you are down with fatigue, frustrations and fears, you need to REQUEST God’s Help, Get REINFORCEMENTS and REVIVE the spirit.
He PRAYED (we’ve seen that) and then called for REINFORCEMENTS
• Verse 13: Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows.
• Especially to the weakest and most exposed areas.
• Verse 18-20: But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me. 19Then I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. 20Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!"
• It’s the trumpet call for help and the people to rally together to fight the enemy.
Remember Elijah? He was tired, frustrated, and running for his life. He ended up wanting to end his life.
• And God had to send an angel to give him bread and something to drink and then told him to go back to sleep. God had to get him to a quiet place to hear His voice again.
• You cannot burn the candle at both ends on a long-term basis. Sometimes the most spiritual thing to do is to go to bed. And spend some quiet time with God again.
We call for help when we face a crisis. Don’t be shy and don’t feel ashamed of this. We pray and rally around one another.
• We must do this, in order to overcome the schemes of the evil one.
• That’s why we have started this small group time. We need one another. We usually do not understand the value of such a need until we are in a crisis. Then you will appreciate this small band of brothers and sisters who are praying for you.
• The people would have given up were it not for Nehemiah. He stepped in and did what was really necessary.
He REVIVES the spirit of the people.
• Verse 14: After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes."
• Prayer has given Nehemiah a right perspective – he has this anchoring faith in a great and awesome God, even in the midst of a crisis.
His response was very similar to that of young David when he fights Goliath.
• The soldiers saw a giant and hid in fear. David too saw the same giant, but he knew of another giant, a greater giant – he saw God.
• God was with Him. How can the enemy mocks God’s Name and win?
Don’t fear, have faith in God. Fear and faith cannot live together in the same heart.
• Jesus said to His disciples in the midst of the storm, when their boat threatened to sink: "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. (Matt 8:26)
• Fear and faith cannot co-exist. When in fear, pray and ask God to strengthen your faith.
Look at the crisis through the greatness of God (like young David) and we will find the confidence we need.
• Heb 13:6 “So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"
• Verse 15: When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work. The enemies gave up!
At the time it was completed in 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world. During the first phase of the project 23 men fell to their deaths in the icy water. Things were going from bad to worse because there were very few safety devices. And so, when it was halfway completed, they decided to take another look and make some changes.
Do you know what they did? They built the largest net ever made, and attached it under the area where the men were working. Was it worth the cost and the time it took to do this? Ask the 10 men who fell into it without being injured! Not only did it save those 10 lives, the work was completed in ¾ of the time because the workers no longer lived in fear of falling.
God has this net of security over our lives. No matter how difficult life is, how hard the work, we have these outstretched arms of God beneath us. Remember Him, Nehemiah said. The great and awesome God!
