Then I said: “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel.” Nehemiah 1:5-6
Anyone who has ever undertaken a building project knows that what looks great on paper never takes the same shape in the real world. Now, I don’t know if Nehemiah had ever heard of Murphy’s law—whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.” But there must have been a Persian equivalent, because a man who lived 2600 years ago experienced the full force of that reality.
Now, possibly the name Nehemiah doesn’t ring a bell with you, in the event you read only the New Testament; but there is an Old Testament book, sandwiched between Ezra and Esther, containing the story of this great man’s life and what he accomplished. It’s well worth discovering.
Nehemiah was a man with a mission. He had papers from King Artaxerxes of Persia which would allow him to build the wall surrounding Jerusalem. Sounds like a nice project, right? Then, put in a garden and plant flowers! Everybody would be happy! Dead wrong!
Nehemiah knew it wouldn’t be easy. When he arrived in Jerusalem, he told no one of his intentions. Why? Well, he knew that opposition would immediately mount. Finally, he brought together the leadership and gave it to them straight. He described the disgrace and the dangers which resulted from having no wall around the city, and they responded, like babes without knowledge, “Let’s rise and build!”
More than one person has aspired to build a castle, but having faced the reality of the real world, settled for a shack. It’s called compromise: giving up on your dream to settle for second or third best.
No sooner had Nehemiah begun the project when he was faced with severe opposition. Local politicians tried to stop them. As the work progressed, the opposition tried scorn and ridicule. “What they are building, even if a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their walls of stone!” (Nehemiah 4:3) their enemies mocked.
But stop building, they did not!
When the wall was nearly half built, the enemies mobilized and began to attack. Undaunted, Nehemiah instructed that half the people should stand guard while half worked on the wall.
Finally, the wall was built and everybody lived happy ever after! Right? Wrong again! As the wall was going up, trouble broke out among those who were building it, as some of the folks took advantage of their brethren by charging them high prices and interest. The rich got richer and the poor got poorer. But in all of this, Nehemiah didn’t quit or give up to his weariness.
When Tobiah and Sanballat, the chief antagonists of the project, knew that their resistance was failing, they tried to trick Nehemiah into a peace conference. “Come,” they invited, “let’s meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.” Again, doesn’t peace make sense? But Nehemiah realized it was a trick, and they sought to kill him. “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down,” he replied (Nehemiah 6:2-3). Four times came the invitation, four times the rejection.
If Nehemiah were alive today and we should ask him, “What lessons did you learn from all of this?” surely, he would reply: “I learned that God will honor His Word, and that it’s no sin to grow weary or tired; the sin comes if you yield and compromise your conviction. I learned that the greatest enemies, however, are not those outside the walls. They are the ones within, which we later experienced when we ourselves yielded to what we know is wrong.”
Throughout his life, Nehemiah was a man of prayer. When confronted with danger and challenges, he prayed, and he kept on doing what was right. And that, friend, is exactly what we need to do today. May God give us more Nehemiahs.
Resource reading: Nehemiah 6:1-18
