When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and that no gap was left in it—though at that time I had not installed the doors in the city gates— Sanballat and Geshem sent me a message: “Come, let’s meet together in the villages of the Ono Valley.” They were planning to harm me. So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing important work and cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?” Four times they sent me the same proposal, and I gave them the same reply. (6:1-4)
I have always loved the books of Ezra and Nehemiah because I am fascinated by stories of ordinary people attempting extraordinary things for God. Nehemiah makes it clear that the work that was accomplished was accomplished by God (see 6:16), but nevertheless, he understood his role in the work of God and it boiled down to faithfulness. God uses people who are faithful to do what He has called them to do, regardless of the circumstances. Nehemiah faced opposition in his task, and rather than focus on the opposition (or get concerned about it) he just kept putting one foot in front of the other.
The secret to Nehemiah’s success was priorities. He did not let himself get distracted by the threats of others, the complications of the task, or the obvious danger he faced. Instead, he kept his hand to the plow and continued faithfully in what God had called him to do. He realized the greater danger was getting distracted because of worrying about the danger. A wise man once said that 90% of all the things we worry about never come to pass. This is true, but more importantly, the worrying is just as dangerous as the thing we worry about. The most common tactic of the enemy is not physical harm, but it is even more powerful weapons like discouragement and distraction. Discouragement and distraction stop more Christian ministry than direct opposition ever has.
