Summary: So, I told you last week that when God gives you vision to do something in the future and you then share it with a group of people, you can expect at least two things. (1) Discussion. (2) Criticism.

“Roadblocks to Vision”

Nehemiah 4

So, I told you last week that when God gives you vision to do something in the future and you then share it with a group of people, you can expect at least two things. (1) Discussion. (2) Criticism. People will ask you questions because they want to hear more – others will just criticize you because they don’t want to hear more. Rarely when you share a vision will everyone get on board.

So, we saw in chapter one that God gave Nehemiah a vision to rebuild the wall in Jerusalem. The king in Persia released the people from captivity so Nehemiah says ok I’m going to go build that wall. So, he heads to Jerusalem. Chapter 2. Upon his arrival, he inspects the wall. Prior to this he had only heard about it. Now he is seeing it in person, and he is devastated. But the devastation serves a purpose. He already understood things were bad – now he knows just how bad and now his vision is growing even larger. Now he has even more conviction to build the wall.

Now remember he kept quiet about all of this for a period of time but now he has made the vision public. He tells them in chapter 2: 17 “you know very well what trouble we are in. Jerusalem is in ruins and its gates have been destroyed. Let’s rebuild the wall and end this disgrace.” Here is their response, “yes let’s rebuild the wall.” So, they replied at once. Yes, let’s rebuild the wall. So, they began the good work. Listen, it is an exciting day when you announce a vision and those you want to involve say, yay let’s do it! But remember while it may seem like everyone is on board….

• Sure, I’ll help you start a new business

• Sure, I’ll help you get a new job.

• Sure, I’ll help you get the training you need.

• Sure, I’ll help you build a new church.

There will always be those who will say “what in the world do you think you’re doing? Where are you going to get the resources? How did you come up with such a wild idea?” Verse 19 says when those men heard the idea they said, “what are you doing?” It’s like who do you think you are to come in here with an idea like that? Nehemiah’s response was simple. He says the God of Heaven will help us succeed. We, his servants, will start rebuilding this wall. So, they did.

Now if you come down to chapter 3:5 we see one of the first signs of opposition. Verse 5. The leaders refused to work with the construction supervisors. In other words, this was a leadership issue. Who’s in charge here? Perhaps as a child you played the game king of the hill. Needed to play all you need was a few people and a mound of dirt. Object is for one person to get to the top of the hill first and be able to stay there. You and three – four buddies line up and race to the top of the hill and as soon as you make it when the others get there, you push them back down. Their goal, however, is to push you down and take over. This is a simple story of what happens often in leadership. Everybody wants to be the one at the top and there can only be one person.

The remainder of chapter 3 is spent naming the workers one by one, naming the leaders and what their specific job/part was in rebuilding the wall. I find in chapter 3 that they secured the gates in every section with bolts and bars. Security was the ultimate goal. We see this happening in one section after another all the way through chapter 3. They wanted the city to be protected.

Now look with me at chapter 4. Sanballat has already been mentioned two times but you may have missed it. We first hear about him in 2:10 along with his friend Tobias and this is what we learn. When the two of them heard that Nehemiah was on the scene they were very displeased that someone had come to help the people of Israel. They are the same ones who would read about in 2: 19 who said what do you think you’re doing? And now here in chapter 4 this is when things get heated up. Now the opposition is growing.

So, Satan has a bag of tricks. Many tools in that bag that he uses, every single day. He knows exactly what to do to beat you down. Every one of them are like roadblocks. Blocks that will get in the way of vision. I see several in this passage.

One. Discouragement. If you ever wonder whether someone needs encouragement or not, just check their pulse. If they have one, they need encouragement. Listen to what was happening here. Vs. 1-3. Sanballat and Tobiah. You ever been mocked by someone? Ever been called a poor or feeble old man/woman. Ever been told your work was not sufficient/good.? This is for sure one of those times when discouragement sets in. We all know that feeling, right? Name calling hurts. Our parents taught us to say things like sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. It is supposed to help you if kids are bullying you or calling you names. Great poem, just one problem it don’t work. Because words do hurt. If I were to ask you today – what is the worst; the meanest thing anyone ever said to you? I suspect you could tell me who said it, where you were at the time and exactly what they said. Why? Immediately became discouraged... What should you do? Yell back. Make fun of them. Get revenge?

Nehemiah in verse 4 says right then I prayed. If you read this passage carefully you can see quickly that they know in their hearts they were God’s people. They saw some pretty strong words in prayer. “Hear us Lord: we are being mocked. May their scoffing fall back on them. Make them prisoners. Do not ignore their guilt or forgive their sins. They have provoked you to anger and have done this in front of all these builders. Lord we’re your people, you’re our God and they have embarrassed you and we won’t stand for it.”

BUILDING BLOCK # 7 FIGHT/PUSH. PRAY UNTIL SOMETHING HAPPENS.

Following his prayer this is what Nehemiah says in verse six. “At last, the wall was completed to half its height around the entire city, because the people had worked with enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is formed from 2 Greek words, and it means in Theos or in God. From these two words we get our word enthusiasm. Now it starts to spread again... when you’re doing God’s work, understand this – there will always be opposition. Some people just have the spiritual gift of criticism. They’re good at it. And you must learn to PUSH through it. It spreads rapidly. Like malignancy. Fast growing. This is what was being criticized. They were being criticized for their progress. Get that? That weren’t being criticized for their lack of progress. They weren’t being criticized for doing inferior work. They were being criticized because they were moving forward and making a difference. You see there are people in life who want you to fail. They do not want you to succeed. Happy when you’re down. They are people in your life, now and in the past and because you have done well, they don’t like it. They don’t like it that you have moved forward/up and they haven’t. Why? You’re doing something they are not. . That’s why they oppose you.- they feel threatened, angry, maybe even sad. The best thing you can do is to realize their opinions just don’t matter. There’s only one opinion that matters and that is HIS. So, what does the opposition do? These were people of influence. They had power.

• Sanballat—Governor of Samaria

• Tobiah—official from 60 miles away. Oversees area east of Jerusalem?

• Arabs. Enemy. They were at odds over who would control the Jews.

• Ammonites. They tried to kill the workers.

• Ashdodites. Resentful that Jews were doing well.

Listen, your potential belongs to you and you only. Do not allow the doubts and fears and harsh words of others to squelch your potential. So, what do you do? He prayed for protection.

(3) Next roadblock. They were overwhelmed. This is what overwhelmed looks like. This is like the very definition of overwhelmed. “The workers are getting tired and there’s so much rubble to be moved. We will never be able to build the wall by ourselves. You’ve been there, right? I have. All have. There’s just too much to be done and there’s not enough people to do it. And we have too much rubble/baggage in our lives. And the entire time the enemy was saying: v. 11. “Swoop down, kill them and end their work. And the strategy of the enemy was working. Verse 12B. One version of the Bible says the Jews came at them ten times telling them to stop. So, here’s the deal. There is a time to pray. There is also, as I said, a time to fight; to stand up and fight for yourself. To protect yourself from the enemy. And this is exactly what he does verses 13 – 16.

So I keep this on the wall in my office as a reminder of God’s faithfulness. IRS frame.

• 2008. The housing market crashed. Prices rose.

• We moved and the rent went up significantly.

• The treasurer walked away with the entire bank account. The only th9ing we had left was one CD. We went to get it to pay our lease and he had taken it as well.

• Our youth had earned 5000 dollars for camp, and he took that.

• Then the letter from the IRS.

I started asking, will this be the end of the church? Accountant who helped me told me they might take everything … furniture, computers, all our chairs. Read letter.

So, I heard a story about Satan’s garage sale. He advertised he was selling off many of his tools and he put on display some of his best items. Some of his partners showed up to see just what he was getting rid of to improve their own skills. Each tool sold almost as quickly as it was placed upon the display tables. All the D’s. Distress. $200. Depression. $300. Defeat. $400. All of them promised to be very effective. One of the buyers noticed two well-worn tools on a table in the corner he found it curious that those two tools had no price tags. Satan just laughed and said Well that’s because I use them so much. Also, he says, “hey I will pay any amount if they are that effective.” Satan shouted those tools are not for sale. I will never sell them. He was disappointed and slowly placed them back in the corner, but he said to Satan if I can’t buy them would you at least tell me their names? He said sure. That one’s doubt and that one’s discouragement. They will work when nothing else will. More useful to me than any of the others. Can’t bring somebody down with the rest of my tools. I just use discouragement and with discouragement I can accomplish anything I want to.