"roadblocks To Vision" Series

“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.