HANDLING SATANS ATTACKS
Nehemiah had it in his heart to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. He had prayed, fasted, confessed his sin, risked his life, gathered men to help, inspected the situation and went forward to do Gods will. Rebuilding the wall would be hard in and of itself, but the job was only half the battle. The other difficult part was the opposition that Nehemiah and the people would endure to accomplish this great feat. What can we learn about how they handled Satans attacks? Let’s take a look.
Pt 1: TURN YOUR PERSECUTORS OVER TO GOD
Neh 4:1 When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews,
Neh 4:2 and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, "What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble--burned as they are?"
Neh 4:3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, "What they are building--if even a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones!"
Neh 4:4 Hear us, O our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity.
Neh 4:5 Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders.
Anger, fury, ridicule, mocking all came against the people of God as they were about Gods work. How did they deal with it? They were real with God and turned their persecutors over to God. God turn their insults back on them. They didn’t bother with their insults. They turned them over to God. Many times we can focus too much on the insults and let them distract us from our mission. Turn them over to God and keep moving! Stay focused on your mission and trust that God will take care of the rest. Remember Heb 10:30 For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people."
Pt 2: STAY FOCUSED ON DOING GODS WILL
Look at how Nehemiah stay focused on doing God’s will.
Neh 4:6 So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart. Neh 4:7 But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry.
Satan is always going to try and discourage you, hurt you, distract you from doing what God wants you to do. You must keep moving! Stay true to your calling and don’t stop.
Pt 3: STAY PRAYERFUL AND ACTIVE
Neh 4:8 They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. Neh 4:9 But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.
Just because we pray for a few minutes or longer about a situation doesn’t mean our enemy is going to stop fighting. We must continue to pray and act. Nehemiah kept on praying and being active in the fight.
Pt 4: SATAN WILL TAKE IT TO ANOTHER LEVEL WILL YOU?
Neh 4:10 Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, "The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall."
Neh 4:11 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."
Neh 4:12 Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, "Wherever you turn, they will attack us."
Neh 4:13 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.
Just because we pray to God doesn’t mean Satan will stop! He will at times take it to another level. Will you? Sanballat went from being very angry, to willing to fight and then willing to kill. What will you do when he does? What did Nehemiah do? He was creative and instead of getting frustrated at the continued persecution he didn’t give up but kept thinking of different things to deal with the problem.
Pt 5: REMEMBER THE LORD
Neh 4:14 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." Neh 4:15 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. Neh 4:16 From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah
Neh 4:17 who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other,
Neh 4:18 and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me.
Neh 4:19 Then 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. Neh 4:20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!"
They were afraid, but Nehemiah called them to remember God. Why because he’s awesome! And because he will fight for us.
Pt 6: CONFIDENCE IN GOD
Nehemiah displayed confidence in His God. Prov 21:31 The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD.
Pt 7: ENDURE PERSONAL DISCOMFORT TO REACH THE GOAL
Neh 4:21 So we continued the work with half the men holding spears, from the first light of dawn till the stars came out. Neh 4:22 At that time I also said to the people, "Have every man and his helper stay inside Jerusalem at night, so they can serve us as guards by night and workmen by day." Neh 4:23 Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he went for water.
These men endured personal discomfort to reach the goal. What are you willing to endure to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ? Nehemiah refused to let Satan have the victory. Some of our brothers don’t care if Satan wins or not. They have lost care for the body of Christ and really could care less what happens to them as long as they are taken care of.
Such attitudes are not Christ like and are not Holy Spirit led. Repent and be like Christ and handle satans attacks in the way Christ would.
