You Can't Be a Winner if you Never Went to War
Tom Shrader examines three types of battles from Nehemiah 4: verbal attacks through mockery and criticism, emotional warfare through fear and discouragement, and underlying spiritual opposition from Satan. He emphasizes that opposition is inevitable even when doing God's work, but victory comes through prayer, maintaining long-term vision, and remembering God's greatness rather than focusing on immediate difficulties.
“Most often in your life, when you start to woe is me, look at the rubble, here's what's happened: you've taken your eye off the vision.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: Just Do It (2004)
Recorded: 2004
Duration: 46 min
Themes: opposition, warfare, criticism, fear, discouragement, prayer, perseverance, victory, facing criticism, dealing with opposition, church leader, ministry worker, discouraged believer, under spiritual attack, leading through conflict, building ministry
Scripture: Nehemiah 4:1-2, Nehemiah 4:4-5, Nehemiah 4:6, Nehemiah 4:7-8, Nehemiah 4:10, Nehemiah 4:12, Nehemiah 4:13, Nehemiah 4:14, Nehemiah 4:15, John 16:33, Genesis 3, Romans 5, Philippians 4, 1 Peter 5:8
Theological Themes: spiritual warfare, satan's attacks, divine sovereignty, god's providence, prayer life, faith under fire, spiritual opposition, biblical leadership
Full Transcript
Today's session is number 4, halfway through our study as we look at Nehemiah rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem. Let me give you a little bit of summary and then share what I hope will be a very important lesson for you.
I remind you that Nehemiah has taken a look at the wall—there it is, or rather the absence of it. He first heard about it in chapter 1 from the survivors that the wall was gone in Jerusalem. Nehemiah's heart was broken. He wept, he fasted, he prayed, and became convinced that he was God's guy to rebuild this wall, or at least that he ought to be taking a run at it.
There had been other attempts—remember, Zerubbabel had tried, Ezra had tried. Ultimately, after 3 or 4 months, the king noticed something was wrong with Nehemiah. Remember Nehemiah's job? He was a cupbearer. So he was around the king all the time, and the king said, "There's something wrong with you. You're sad yet you're not sick. It must be a sadness of heart." Nehemiah said, "Here's the deal, here's what's wrong." The king asked, "What do you want me to do?" Nehemiah replied, "Well, I need a letter and permission to go and rebuild it. Not only that, if you could give me a letter to the keeper of the forest because I'm going to need lumber and all the materials."
We made a huge point about this: even though he's God's man in God's timing using God's way with supernatural intervention, he still understands the system and how God works through people. The same thing is true today. God continues to work His plan in this world.
God's Work Around the World
I'm just finishing up this pretty interesting book called "Jesus in Beijing," written by the Time Magazine correspondent in Beijing. It talks about the emergence—and listen to this word—the emergence of Christianity in China. China now has more Christians in it than any other nation in the world. It's an extraordinary thought—more Christians in China than any other nation in the world, including the United States.
It all took place essentially after the communists came in and threw out all the missionaries. There were about 5 million Christians then. Now what's happened is those 5 million Christians have lived a life where their light shines, where they share the truth, and now they say there are as many as 100 million Christians there. What's happening in China is that the places where the Christians reside, the economy is booming. Now the Chinese government is asking, "What's going on here?" There's a whole quiet revolution taking place. Is it accomplished? No. Is there persecution? Yes. But that's what happens when you begin to live this stuff.
You Are a Leader
So now Nehemiah is living it. Away he goes to rebuild his wall. Nehemiah's job is cupbearer, but he is a leader. Here's what we're doing in this series: we're trying to emphasize to you that you are a leader. You're a leader by definition—not if your title says leader, or if your card says senior vice president, or your business says owner. You're a leader if anybody's following you. It may be a 3-year-old kid. It may be a grandchild. It may be somebody down the road. It may be a neighbor who looks to you.
Think about this: if you're average—let's say you're rock solid average—that means 49 people out of 100 are looking to you for direction. That's a scary thought. They're looking for you to lead. They're looking to you. That's the great opportunity you have.
In all likelihood, you are also a follower. You may be a leader in one venue, but you're a follower in another. So we can flip back and forth as we look at this study of Nehemiah. We can see Nehemiah's leadership principles, and those really come screaming through today. But also, you can apply this in your own life as a follower, saying, "This is what I need to do in these situations I'm in."
Let me emphasize this, and I guess because I run two of them, primarily in volunteer organizations: if you're running a volunteer organization, this is like herding cats. This is a tough thing to do. You're moving people along. You have no check at the end of the day. You've got to win their hearts. You've got to draw them in. If you're playing athletics, you have potential to lead and to affect. All of these things are in place. So you just need to know that. That's what we're looking at.
The Fear of Failure
Nehemiah is God's man in God's timing using God's way. Nehemiah is the boy. Now what we're going to see today is the criticism begin to come, and the crisis begin to come.
My sense—and I don't know that this is right, but my sense—is that most people don't lead, or most people don't tackle an activity because they're afraid to fail. It's not that they don't even think they're talented. Here you go: if you play golf, why is a three-foot putt so difficult? I don't understand it. I can sit at ten feet, and there's a fluidity in my stroke. I'm at three feet, and it's a chop. Why is that? I can tell you why. I guarantee you why. Because you're supposed to make a three-footer. Because if you miss a three-footer, you're a schmuck. And everybody watching you knows that. And now you're grabbing that thing tight, and that's why that's hard. That's why that's difficult.
We used to do a newsletter, a Priority Living newsletter, and it was so hard to do and seemed to get so little response that I said, "I'm not going to kill myself for this." In the middle of that, one time we were interviewing Paul Westfall about basketball. He was giving us his all-NBA team, which was amazing to me because he had an all-time...
all-NBA team. He had Charles at a forward, which I thought was interesting. In the middle of this, I said, "You were at Boston," and I said, "Talk about Havlicek. Havlicek was a clutch player." Now here I am telling Paul about basketball, which seems stupid. But I'm saying, "Havlicek was a clutch player because he wanted that ball because he knew he could score."
And he said, "That's exactly wrong. Havlicek wanted the ball at crunch time because he wasn't afraid to miss the shot. He knew he wasn't going to make them all. He knew the pressure was going to be on him. He knew there were going to be times when he drove the lane and nothing was going to happen. He knew he was going to get out of his rhythm and not be able to do it, but he wasn't afraid to miss the shot."
There you go, and there is massive freedom in that. When all of a sudden I say, "You know what, if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. But at least I failed trying something, rather than to sit back and watch it all take place."
Conflict Is Inevitable
So Nehemiah is in the midst of this. And Nehemiah, God's man, God's way, God's timing, God's job—understand this: conflict is inevitable even in that situation. John chapter 16 verse 33, Jesus says this: "In this world you will have tribulation." That's part of the deal. You're going to suffer, you're going to have pain, you're going to have persecution.
I had somebody that came up Sunday after church, and they had become a Christian probably four or five years ago, and here's what they said: "Since I've become a Christian, my life has been filled with crap. That's what's happened to me. I lost my job, I lost my fiancé, I lost everything." Now there's a corresponding side—let me give you the corresponding side. There's a corresponding side that says even in the middle of that, there is a joy and a peace in the middle of that, and there's a comfort in that.
But I want you to hear that, because the common thought is, "Oh man, I'm all screwed up, I hear the gospel, I come to Christ, now I have meaning, purpose, direction—everything's going to be great." Absolutely not, circumstantially. In fact, you're going to have all the wear and tear in life. Your garage door opener's going to wear out, you're going to have wrecks, the TV's not going to work, cable's not right, computer's slow, relationships are tough.
On top of all of that is going to come a suffering for your faith. On top of all of that—that's just life. That is just the way life is. On top of all of that, there's a persecution or tribulation for your faith. On top of all of that, there's a suffering or a pain, there's an emotional anxiety, as all of a sudden I start to see the world different.
If you're not a Christian, or you're not thinking like a Christian, you're just going with the flow. Life is easy. Now I'm a Christian, I'm swimming upstream. I got people all around me that are going to say, "That's fine, that's fine, that's fine," but ultimately you have a whole different bottom line with people. So anticipate—in fact, we're going to look at it in a minute—but learn to welcome that tribulation.
Three Battles to Face
Here you go. Here you are on your outline. We'll just work your way through it. Three battles that we're going to look at today. There's a verbal battle, there is an emotional battle, and there is a spiritual battle. Now as you look under those, you'll see some points: 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2. All the 1's, the answer is situation. So there's a verbal battle: 1, situation; 2, response; 3, result. So at this point, you've been able to fill in 20% of your outline. So all the 1's are situation, all the 2's are response, all the 3's are result.
The Verbal Battle: Opposition Gets Organized
So here we go. Here's Nehemiah, here we are at the very beginning. Here's the situation: his opponents are organized. His opponents are organized. Chapter 4, verse 1 and 2, here are these two guys that we've met before: "Now it came about when Sanballat"—that's one of the bad guys—"Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall. He became furious and very angry and mocked the Jews, and he spoke in the presence of his brothers and the wealthy men of Samaria, and he said, 'What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restore the wall for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish in a day? Can they revive the stones from the dusty rubble, even the burned ones?'"
There's an organized opposition. There is opposition against them. This opposition is organized, and they begin what we call a verbal battle, the war of words. It starts with a criticism. It starts with a whole series of questions.
Have you seen a pattern like this before? The answer would be yes. Back in Genesis 3, remember what Satan does? Here's Eve. God has said to Adam, "Don't eat from the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden." He communicates this to Eve. Adam's gone. Here comes the serpent. And what is the first thing the serpent does? He asks her a question. "Did God really say that, Eve? Is that what He really said?"
And there's all sorts of implications in that. "Eve, I wouldn't say something like that to you. Why would I put restrictions? Listen, if I love you, I wouldn't put any restrictions on you at all. What kind of a God must this be, Eve? Here He goes and creates this fruit, and then tells you not to eat it, and He puts a desire for it in your heart. What kind of a God would that be, Eve? That's a bad God. That's not a good God. Did He really say it, Eve?"
And then she said, "This is what He said." And He comes back. He said, "You know why He said that? He doesn't want you to be like Him. He doesn't want you being like Him." That's where He starts. He starts with all of these questions. All of these questions, and that's how the critics come.
I have—and I think I'm getting better at it—but I have the gift of criticism. And today, it's not on your account. Here you go. Get this now. He said, "Today is a very, very important day. You know what it is?" No, my birthday is November 28th, but go ahead and make a note of
The Power of Criticism to Contaminate
This is a very important day today. Susan's getting her hair cut. Not a good day. So for three days, I've been practicing. "Oh, that looks really nice. Oh, I would have never thought of that color for hair." I mean, I'm really working hard, because I know what it's going to be. I know what it's going to be like. I know what I'm like. I know how she is.
Susan's going through this great time. The kids and everybody are gone, and we're starting over. She's starting to work out. She's got a little trainer. She's working on her studies. She's just going through this thing. I saw a magazine the other day with hairdos in it. So I'm practicing. I got a little note in my car: "When you drive into that garage, put a smile on your face, no matter how this looks, and say, 'That really looks great.'"
Because my gift is going to be to say, "That doesn't look..." Even if it looks good, you know what I would say? "I doubt you'll ever be able to get it that way again tomorrow." I mean, I don't have the ability to do that. But out this stuff comes. Here comes that criticism. And now it comes, and it begins to pick up steam.
When Ridicule Increases
Look at the second thing - the ridicule increases. Look at this. Here's some sarcasm. Now Tobiah, Sanballat, Tobiah - these are the two main sources of opposition. Now these guys come along, and here's what they say: "Even what they are building, if a fox would jump on it, it'd break down." The thing is so flimsy, look at them. Look at what they're doing. And you can hear them mocking them. You hear that criticism, and it starts to pick up.
I will tell you this from my experience. There's something about criticism that's contagious. If you've got a team - I was talking to a kid the other day who plays college baseball. He said, "One year we were picked to be top five in the country. That year we were 15 and 48. The next year we were 16 and 47." I said, "How does that happen? Injuries?" He said, "No. We just started going south, and the guys started going after each other."
You've watched it, haven't you? You've seen it in an office where you get one disgruntled employee that goes unchecked. Before a short period of time, that person has contaminated the whole pool.
The Contamination of Negativity
You hear it. I hear it all the time. You go into some of these restaurants, and I like to go into restaurants just because of the nature of what I do. I'm typically in there at weird times. So it'll be 10 o'clock in the day, and I'll see two gals over here or two guys over there and the restaurant empty. I want a booth right by them, because I want to eavesdrop. I want to know what they're talking about, because usually they're practicing amateur psychology.
You'll get them together, and I mean they're whining almost always. They're whining about this or that. Or at noon, get in a crowded restaurant next to four or five employees from the same office. Nothing is right. The home office doesn't know anything. The boss is stupid. We do everything wrong. Everything's anachronistic. Everything's dumb. Nobody knows anything.
Really what needs to happen is you need to sit them down and address them. If they don't respond, fire them. That's what you need to do.
Dealing with Gossip in Organizations
One of my pet peeves is gossip. If that starts in our organization - and we're getting bigger and bigger, I don't know what we have now, 40, 50, 60 employees - when that starts, if I hear something, I go right back to them. I'm saying, "Did you say that? Where did it come from? Is it true? Did you spread it?" If it happens again, you're gone. You're out of here. Because we are not - look, we got enough problems without eating each other.
The very first staff meeting I did, here were my last instructions to them: "Don't screw this thing up." Because that's what will happen. In comes the criticism.
Nehemiah's Unexpected Response
What does Nehemiah do? Don't look ahead. But just knowing Nehemiah, like you've been introduced to Him in the last three weeks, I know what I'd do. I'd do what I just said. I mean, I'd be aggressive. I'd be proactive. Nehemiah is proactive in a different sort of way. What does he do? He prays.
Look at verse 4 and 5: "Hear, O God, how we're despised." Now, I like this too. There's a lot - no wonder I like this lesson. There's so much of this love-your-neighbor stuff, but I like this: "Return their reproach on their heads. Give them up for plunder in the land of captivity. Do not forgive their iniquity. Let not their sin be blotted out before Thee, for they have demoralized the builders."
All right, it's His version, although He put a little amen on it. I'm saying, "Sick them, God. Go get them, God. Here's the problem, God. You get them. I'm not..." What Nehemiah is saying here: "I'm not going to fight this battle, because God, ultimately, this is Your battle."
The Result of Taking It to God
The verbal battle comes. Nehemiah prays. What is the result? Well, the project continues. Verse 6: "So we built the wall, and the whole wall was joined to half its height, for the people had a mind to work."
Here's what's happened. All of a sudden, the outside criticism comes. The people begin to hear it. Nehemiah says, "Let's go to God, because you know what? Ultimately, this is God's problem, not ours. We can't control how they respond. They're going to have to respond however they can. It's our job to build the wall."
So the situation is: the opponents are organized, their ridicule increases, the response is they seek God, and the result is the project continues.
The Battle Escalates to Emotional Warfare
The battle moves now to an emotional level. Indeed, it was verbal and continues along that line, but now it becomes a little bit of emotional warfare. Look at 7 and 8: "Now it came about when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, all these other guys, heard that the wall of Jerusalem was being repaired, and that the breaches began to be closed..."
They were very angry. And all of them conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and cause the disturbance of it.
Practical point. You got a problem in your life. You got a problem in your organization. You got a problem in a relationship. You settle it. You get everybody together. You pray to God. You overcome it. Don't think you're done. Just because you stop the opposition, the tribulation, the suffering, one time, that doesn't mean that you're done. That doesn't mean it's over. They intensify things just a bit. They're organized, and now the workers begin to worry.
Look at verse 10. I love this. "Thus in Judah it was saying," so now here's all these guys building the wall, "the strength of the burden of the bearers is failing, yet there is much rubble, and we ourselves are unable to rebuild the wall." Look at what's happened. They hear this opposition. They understand there's something coming. They're going to look in a minute at what they perceive. Here comes something, and all of a sudden, here's what they're saying. Look at all the rubble. Look at all the rubble.
When Opposition Clouds Your Vision
Now, there's a process of tearing down, cleaning out to rebuild. They're saying, look at all the rubble. Hey, the rubble's half what it was. Progress has been made. What's happened at this moment? This is very important. When you're looking for takeaway value today, this is huge right here.
Most often in your life, when you start to "woe is me, look at the rubble, this is a big project," here's what's happened. You've taken your eye off the vision. You've lost sense of what needs to happen. You've got a project to do. The opposition comes. The difficulty comes. And all of a sudden, you've got a short-term view.
The Foundation of Peace with God
You don't need to turn there, but let me just read to you Romans chapter 5. Paul's writing Romans chapter 1, 2, and 3. Here's what he's saying. Everybody's sinned and you've got problems. And your sin has separated you from God. All sin and fall short of the glory of God. And nothing's going to save you.
Religion's not going to save you. Joining the church isn't going to save you. Being a good person isn't going to save you because you can't be a good person because God's standard is perfection. What you want to do is say, I'm better than her, better than him, better than them. You may be better than them, but the standard is perfection. If you've sinned once, you've broken a law, you've broken the law. Now that may not be how we look at it, but that's how God looks at it. And in this particular situation, God's writing the rules. And He says, if you've broken a law, you've broken the law.
Romans chapter 5, here's what he says: "Therefore, having been justified by faith," it's a legal term, it's our standing before God, because we're now justified before God. How? By faith. It's got nothing to do with anything you've done. That faith is a gift of God, right? I'm saved by grace through faith. "Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also have obtained our introduction by faith into the grace in which we stand and we exalt in the hope of the glory of God."
Understanding True Christian Identity
We've been saved. You're a Christian. Who's a Christian? What does it mean to be a Christian? It means to trust God, to believe God, to believe that Jesus is who He said He was, that you are indeed who He says you are, and that you will, apart from Him, spend eternity in hell.
Now I'm introduced into this extraordinary faith, into the grace that flows from that, and the hope for the future. What's our hope? Let me help you out with this. It doesn't seem like we should have to go through this, but we will. We're going to die. I mean, this just seems so evident to me.
The Challenge of Long-Term Thinking
And it's at different times. I'm getting ready for what the hardest thing I do all year. I'll do on June 11th through the 15th, and that's summer camp. We'll take 600 junior high, high school kids over to San Diego. And I teach seven times to these kids. And it's just a very difficult thing. And what makes it so hard for me in that environment is I'm trying to get a 14-year-old to think long term. Long term to them is tomorrow.
Now here's the deal. You in here are way beyond 14. I even have a hard time getting you to think long term. But it's easier with you. You understand you're going to die. You understand it. How do I get everything I can out of this day right here, right now? And I expand it. How do I get everything I can out of life? By thinking long term. And all of a sudden, that's what he's saying. Now I'm thinking long term. Now I'm thinking about I have peace with God.
The Reality of Our War with God
Isn't that an amazing statement? I've got peace with God. If I say, let's say, we'll take Bud. Let's say you hear this, Bud and I have been reconciled. That's all you know. Don't know anything. Don't know him. Don't know me. All you know is that Bud and I have been reconciled. If you hear that, that we've been reconciled, what you know, just by definition, is what? Pre-existing hostile conditions.
If I have peace with God, here, you sing it at Christmas, "God and sinner reconciled," then what that song is acknowledging is man and God are at war. We're not on the same page. That's what the Scripture teaches, by the way. The Scripture does not teach that we're all good people. That there's a little bit of God in all of us. That we're all basically good. No. We're all sinful. We're all depraved. We're all separated from God. That's the bad news that is followed by the good news, which is, now I can have peace with God through Christ.
Humanity's Search for Peace
All of life is man's attempt to find peace with God. They may try to snort that peace, or smoke that peace, or buy that peace, or touch that peace, or own that peace, or they may try to find that peace through church, but it's not about you. And then I'll even have, if you can watch Dr. Phil, and Dr. Phil's going to have somebody on there that says, I found peace. I got my nose fixed, and I got my eyes lifted, and other...
things tucked and blown, and bigger here and smaller here, and I've got peace, man. I feel good about myself. We have lost this, and this is a problem in the Christian faith. We've started to talk about Christianity in terms of feeling good about yourself, and finding direction, and that's not what it's about.
I get very concerned when I hear Christians say, "My faith - I've got such peace, and God's given me such peace." That's fine. But I can bring another guy in who's going to say, "I found peace in Buddha. I found peace in just manual labor. I found peace in the mountains. I found peace in the flowers." Well, I want peace on God's earth. My problem is, I'm at war with God. I've declared it through my sin, and He said, "Fine, bring it on." And the only way I found peace is through Christ.
Now, understanding that, here I am. I now have peace with the creator God of the universe. I bet it's going to be cool. Here, it says this: "Not only this, we also exalt in our tribulation. Knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance, and perseverance brings about character. And character brings about hope, and hope isn't disappointed, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who was given to us." There's the Christian life. You've got to see long-term.
The Ultimate Illustration: Raising Children
I'll give you, to me, the ultimate illustration of this. Raising kids. I'm watching the other day. I got this lady, she's coming into church. And now, everybody travels - you know, Susan and I, we didn't have much. And now they've got car seats and bags. She looks like the grapes of wrath moving at you. And tired. Bagged.
I said, "You look tired." She said, "Tom, I am pooped." And I said, "How many kids do you have?" She said, "I have four kids. The oldest is three." And I said, "Well, why are you tired? I don't understand why you'd be tired. Why are you tired?" She said, "I am exhausted." I said, "This is just killing me. Tom, I am just whipped." And I found Susan like that at times years ago.
I walk across. I have a real strong presence on our campus on Wednesday morning because that's when all the ladies are there and a lot of moms. And I visibly try to be there because you can spot them. And they're pooped. And I'll go out of my way to come over and say, "Hey, how are you doing? Tough night?" "Ugh! It's killing me." "Well, how do you get through?" It's like, I heard the other day - I have no idea why - do you understand? "I hate this. I hate this when they say it costs $450,000 to raise a child." Well, first of all, they don't ask for it up front. So that makes it a little easier. Secondly, that number is bogus. It doesn't cost $450,000 to raise a kid. But all of a sudden, that builds up.
Child rearing, to me, is the ultimate in long-term vision. And I said to that mom, with those four, I said, "Here's what you got to think, babe. You got to see Christmas Eve, 25 years from now, when these four kids are there with their spouses and their kids, and you're sitting around, and they're bringing you gifts, and they're loving on you, and you're loving on them. Because that's what this is about."
I have never once seen a mom change a diaper, and the kid jump up and say, "That was great, mom. Thanks. I needed that, mom. That's perfect. Thank you, babe. The other day, they were a little loose. Perfect." I've never seen it happen. It isn't going to happen. Here's how they say thank you: as they're walking away, you hear, and you're going through it all over again. It's the way it is, isn't it? It's just the way it goes.
If you, at that moment, if at that moment, you don't see long-term, I believe this. Everybody says it. They just say it because they got to say it. I believe it and say it. Child-rearing is the most difficult job on the planet because, number one, it's relentless. I don't care what work you have, you go home. You don't ever get away from this. Somebody said it this way, and it's right: "Once you have a kid, it's like there's a little piece of your heart out there in the world that's running around." You don't ever rest. You don't ever stop. How do you keep going?
The Supporters Become Fearful
Same thing here, man. Nehemiah is saying, "Boys, boys, boys, you got to get your eyes on the project." Look what happens. The supporters are fearful. Here's what they say: "They say, our enemies have said they will not know" - speaking now of us. Make sure you understand the context there. Nehemiah's boys are saying the enemies are saying of us, "We will not know or see them until they come, and they will kill us, and they'll put a stop to our work." And it came about when the Jews who lived near them came to them and told us this ten times.
That may sound a little confusing. Here's what they're saying. And this is the scariest. Here's what they're saying: they got a secret plan. There's something about a secret plan. When Mike Tyson was at His prime, and He's knocking guys out in round one. Every fight, it would go like this, because they'd always interview the guy that He's going to fight. And they'd say, "What are you going to do?" He said, "Well, I've been watching the film, and I've spotted a flaw. I got a secret plan." Now, He's a 72 to 1 underdog, but He said, "I got" - and what happens to me is, I'm going, "I wonder what He saw. I wonder what the flaw is. Maybe this is the guy."
So ding, round one, 60 seconds into it, they're towing the guy off, and He can use His plan again, because it's still a secret, because He just got His clock cleaned in about 45 seconds. But there's something about, "I got a secret plan. You don't know what I've got." And that's what they're saying.
I think, in verse 10, or verse 12, if I've heard it once, I've heard it 10 times. They've got this secret plan. So here's the response to that.
The response is in verse 13. "Then I stationed men at the lowest parts of the space, behind the wall, the exposed places, and I stationed the people and the families with their swords and their spears and their bows. And when I saw their fear, I rose up to speak to the nobles and the officials and the rest of the people."
So here's what he says. The response—he addresses the situation. He responds to this. Interestingly enough, he doesn't say, "Well, we'll just work harder." There are certain times in your life when you're involved in something and you've lost vision. It doesn't do you any good to work harder. You're just going to be tired and frustrated. So what he does is, his response is, he addresses the situation.
Addressing the Emotion
And here's what he does in verse 14. He addresses the emotion. This is huge. Listen to what he says. I get all the people together, and here's what he says to them. Got it? "Do not be afraid of them." Here's what he sees. They're coming. There's a secret plan. The guys are beginning to talk. He calls them together, and he says, don't be afraid.
But you know what? That doesn't help me much. If I'm getting out, this is a scary world. Watch the news. I mean, it's just discouraging, because every night, I mean, local news—I don't understand local news. I'm never going to understand it, obviously. But there's a shooting at this gas station. There's a rape over here. There's a killing over here. And the guy then turns the gun on himself, and then they show you how to do a craft. I'll never understand local news. But it's the same thing every night.
I walked in Tuesday. Tuesday was a long day for me. Got in the church about 6. Got home that night about 7. I walk in. Susan said, "I've got dinner ready. Do you want to eat?" And I said, "I don't have time to eat right now. I'm sorry, sweetie. I'll grab something in a minute. I've got to get on PL. I've got to finish this lesson for this week."
So I said, "I'm not going to be able to eat. I've got to get that done, and then I'll grab something to eat." So we're talking, and I said, "You know, this isn't really good. I know this. But I'm whipped. I've got to go to bed. I said, anything on the news today?" And she said, "Yeah. There was something on the news today." And I said, "Well, what?" Because that's—I mean, I want to know that stuff.
She said, "Well, it's one of those things that either terrifies you or you kind of go, that's the way it is." And I said, "Well, what is it?" And she said, "The Attorney General said that there are definitely terrorists now within the borders and that they will probably attack in the summer." You read this. You saw this. Probably attack in the next couple of months, biological, chemical, maybe nuclear, who knows? Weapons of mass destruction. And they think it's here. It seems credible. You know, all that goes with it.
Why We Don't Need to Be Afraid
To walk in and say, "Do not be afraid," it's kind of silly. Because you ought to be afraid, humanly. Life is scary. And for those of you that aren't Christians, you ought to be petrified. You ought to be scared to death to pull out there in Lincoln. Because if there's a problem and somebody hits you and you die, you go to hell.
But the most frequent prohibition that Jesus gives us in the New Testament is, "Do not be afraid." Why? Why should I not be afraid? Look at what Nehemiah says: "Remember the Lord who is great and awesome."
I can say to you, to Susan, to the kids, "Do not be afraid." Why? Because it's not scary? Nuh-uh. It's really scary. Because it's not dangerous? Nope. It's dangerous. Because you won't ever get hurt? Nuh-uh. You may get hurt. You may get killed. You may get raped. Because I'll never lose any of my money? Nope. You may lose it all. Because my relationship with my spouse will always be healthy and they'll never abandon me? Nope. Any of this stuff could happen.
Well then how can you say, don't be afraid? Don't be afraid because you remember the Lord. Remember who you are. "In this world you're going to have tribulation. But greater is He that's in you than He that's in the world." That's the truth that I need to know.
What We Know Trumps What We Feel
I am supposed to take everything that I have, Philippians chapter 4, and bring it to the Lord. Be anxious for nothing and pray about everything. It's not my battle, man. It's His. See, that's the supreme thing.
We've talked about this in a couple of ways. I'm just getting ready to put a message together. I'm going to Houston in July to teach and I think this is where I want to go with this. Let's play off of this. But here you go. What you know to be true trumps what you feel. Got it? So what I know trumps what I feel. Because my feelings are going to be deceptive. My feelings can lie. My feelings can deceive.
I can feel—I think we've talked about that before—I can go on a ride at Disneyland in a closed area and I feel like I'm rushing through space, diving over here, moving over here. I feel like I'm just moving this much and isn't going forward at all. My feelings can deceive me. So what trumps what I feel is what I know.
And what you know is if you're a Christian. If you're not a Christian, you've got serious issues here. You better run to Christ. But if I'm a Christian, here's what I know. And "I know," that's exactly the terminology, "and I know God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose."
A Hospital Story About Trust
Haley's got a patient the other night, 84-year-old guy. And he's sick, or he wouldn't be in the hospital. But his wife is down in ICU and she's really sick. She dies. And they've been married 60-some years and this is this kind of idyllic old couple that have grown old together and just everything you'd want.
So they've got to tell him that she's dead. So they go in and they said, "Your wife has died. Now would you like to go and see her?" Because that's part of what they...
And he said, "Yes, I would." He said, "Haley, when I come back, will you sit with me and hold my hand?" And she said, "Sure." Down he goes, he comes back. He lays down. 84-year-old man, just lost the person he loves more than anybody in the whole planet.
And here's what he says. He's holding Haley's hand. He said, "Will you hold my hand, sweetie?" And she said, "Yes." And he says, "Haley, I need to ask you something. Haley, do you know Jesus? Haley, are you a Christian?" And Haley said, "Yes, I am." And this old man is smart enough to know that that doesn't mean anything anymore because everybody thinks you're a Christian. And he follows up and says, "Haley, do you have a personal relationship with Christ? Because here's the deal, Haley. My wife is in heaven right now. And not too long from now, I'm going to go be with her. Haley, are we going to see you there?"
Do you see something there? Do you see living beyond? I'm not saying this guy's not grieving. And I'm not saying this guy doesn't love his wife. Obviously, this guy, you know what? He loves His God more. I love Susan a bucket load. But I love God more. I love my kids a ton. I love God more. And the most important thing I can do in this life is to please my heavenly Father. The most important thing I can do in this life is to keep my eyes on the long term.
And that's what he has to do. He says, "Boys, boys, look it. Don't be afraid. Remember God. Remember what He's done?" And He could line list them if He want. Remember how Moses led the nation out of Egypt? Remember the parting of the Red Seas? Remember these things? Remember how He fed them? Remember all that? Remember all those things?
Because that's what He's done. You think He's going to drop you now? Is He going to allow hard things to come in your life? You bet. Is it going to be difficult? You bet. And is it going to be sometimes where you want to go, "I don't know if I can go another day?" You bet. But that's okay. Because He loves you.
The Project Continued Despite Opposition
The result is the project continued. Chapter 4, verse 15 says, they continued to rebuild the wall.
Because ultimately what we've got here is a verbal battle, an emotional battle. You can go in your life and see those. But underneath all of that is the spiritual battle.
Understanding the Real Enemy
Here's the situation for you and me. The real enemy in our life is Satan. We can go both ways there. We can all of a sudden see Satan everywhere or see him nowhere. I'm doing some research right now for a talk here in a couple of weeks. And I think the number that I've found, the latest number is 47% of those who say they're born again did not believe Satan is real, 50%. So we can go to that extreme that says, "Oh, there's just this evil force and blah, blah, blah." Or you've got these other things that see him everywhere.
I was at the arena. I used to teach a study at the arena. And so one day I'm plugging in the overhead projector and the sparks start flying. I said, "Oh, wow." Well, George Bevins, who's just a great guy, runs security there, and one of the maintenance guys are there. And they said, "Whoa, what happened?" I said, "I don't know." And so they took the plug and they said, "Well, Tom, where's the ground on this thing?" I said, "Is that that thing that sticks out?" And they said, "Yeah." And I said, "I broke it off because in a lot of places they don't have a place to stick that in. So I didn't think I needed it." And they said, "Well, you moron. You need a ground." I said, "Well, I don't know that." And they said, "You've got to have a ground." I said, "Well, can you fix it?" They said, "We'll just go put a new plug on it." And they brought it back.
Here's what I know. And so I said, "Yeah, I'm stupid. I just don't. That's not my deal. I don't really care." What I didn't say is, "Satan was out to get me. Satan was out to destroy the Bible study. To subvert God. God must be going to do something very special here today. Because Satan was out to destroy it." No, I'm stupid. And try to put a plug in without a ground. That's all. So you see the two extremes? We can go both ways with this.
The Spiritual Battle Strategy
Your real enemy is Satan. Your recipient is God. Your life. If you're a man, you need other men in your life. You can't grow this alone. When the tough times come, you need other people around you. And that's what happens in the story as you read through.
And then the last thing is, and you remain on the alert. Peter's writing in 1 Peter, chapter 5, verse 8. Here's what he said: "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy, the devil, prowls like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Resist him." And listen to what he says. "Resist him, standing firm in the faith."
Not resist him on your own. You're not strong enough. Satan's not God, but he's stronger than you, and smarter than you, and sharper than you. And you're not going to beat him on your own. You aren't all that big. You know what? He goes head to head with Eve. He goes head to head with Jesus, doesn't He? Isn't that what he does? In the desert, he takes them out and says, "Throw yourself off. Turn these into bread. All this can be yours." Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life.
Application from Nehemiah's Example
Nehemiah, great story. Great story for you now to apply in your life, that there is opposition that's going to come to you. And in the midst of this, you just need to be prepared for it. Number one, expect it. Number two, when it comes, don't lose sight of the long-term vision. You got to keep your eye on the long-term.
That's what we do. We have a lot of kids that are in college, and some of them have decided they want to be physicians, or they want to be something in terms of ministry, something that has four, five, six, seven years on it. You're going to get discouraged very quick. That is a very difficult road. But how you see that is, now—
I see myself in that church and God using me. That's how I hang it. See that? See that principle?
Next week, finally again, back to the wall, building the wall.
Father, help us learn this truth and live this. God help us. There may be some that are here today and discouraged. Maybe in their life there's pain, suffering, hurt, tribulation. Help them understand that's normal. That's okay. They're not exempt from that. That's the way life is.
And in the midst of this, help them check their life. Do they have people around them that can pray with them and pray for them and encourage them? And have a cup of coffee and just say everything's going to be all right? Because it is. Because we know You cause all things to work together for good. Not for everyone in the world, but to those who love You and are called according to Your purpose.
God, thanks for loving us, for saving us. Protect us till we're here next week. We pray it in Christ's name, amen.
Have a great week. We'll see you next week.