The workers building the wall in Nehemiah’s day needed to take special precautions to finish the task. The enemy of the Lord is still trying to stop the building of God’s kingdom. As you diligently answer God’s call, how do you complete the work of the Lord?
Tobiah the Ammonite, who was standing beside him, remarked, “That stone wall would collapse if even a fox walked along the top of it!” Nehemiah 4:3
The rendition of Robin Hood done by Disney years ago portrayed the character of Robin Hood as a fox. The fox is an animal that is sly and quick on its feet.
One day, I took our oldest son, Chris, when he was a young teenager, hunting. After getting him settled to wait for a deer to come by, I took my place. Before we knew it, a beautiful red fox came running up through the ridge. It was almost close enough for Chris to touch.
The interesting thing was, we never heard it. We just happened to see it. Which gave us a first-hand look at how lightly these dog-like creatures can maneuver.
Here is my point. Picture a pile of rocks laying on the ground. Chances are, if a fox were to run across it, the rocks would never move.
Completing the Work of the Lord
Under the leadership of Nehemiah, the wall around Jerusalem was being rebuilt at a nice rate. The enemies of Israel did not like what they were seeing and came against them.
Verse 8 says They all (the enemies) made plans to come and fight against Jerusalem and throw us into confusion. But we prayed to our God and guarded the city day and night to protect ourselves.
The enemy of God’s people has not changed his tactics. He makes statements that, when you think about them, are absurd and make no sense at all. You know like, a fox will knock down your stone wall! Yet, Christians will all too often listen to him and be rattled by his nonsense words.
I was at a conference recently where the speaker asked a question. “Do we just believe in the Lord, or do we believe the Lord?” That is a valid question. It takes no action to believe in something. When you believe a person then you will likely put your trust in that person.
Many people believe in God. It seems however, they will believe their enemy before they will believe their Lord.
Let’s spiritualize the context of where the verse is found that we read today. The Israelites were building a wall. Because of the threat of their enemies, they were carrying a weapon and their building tool.
How Do You Complete The Work?
We are in the business of building the kingdom of God. To do so, we must also carry a weapon and the tools that God has supplied us with. Our weapon is the Word of God.
Hebrews 4:12 tells us, “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword.”
Our building tools consist of the Fruit of the Holy Spirit. They are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It is always easier to build when you have the right tools. The kingdom of God though, will not be built without the power of the Holy Spirit.
Unlike the situation Nehemiah found himself in, ours is a little different. He and his men carried two different things. They had a weapon in one hand for defensive purposes. And a tool in the other hand for building. With us, our weapon and tool come combined together.
The sword of the Spirit contains the weapons made for our disposal. It gives us both instructions on how to use our tools and empowerments us to use them effectively. That is how we complete the work of the Lord.
So, stop believing the enemy and always trust God. Our Lord has given us everything we need to be victorious and He has provided us with a live-in coach, the Holy Spirit.
Lord, thank you for providing us with the tools and protection we need as we do kingdom work for you. We especially thank you for sending us the Holy Spirit.
Here is the link to the chapter called, Enemies Oppose the Rebuilding in Nehemiah
You might be interested to another post I wrote from Nehemiah called How To Stand Firm on Godly Principles.
You would enjoy reading the cornerstone post on discipleship called How To Be An Effective Devoted Disciple Of Jesus.
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