02/06/2024 – Practical Lessons in Perseverance – Part 2
Nehemiah 4: 11 Also our enemies said, “Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work.” 12 Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.” 13 Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows. 14 After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.” 15 When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to our own work.
One of the greatest difficulties to completing anything good is growing opposition. The more you do for God, the angrier the enemy gets. This makes sense. The more we advance on enemy territory, the more we anger the enemy. We saw that when the people started the work, Sanballat, Tobiah and the enemies of God were angry. They began to ridicule the people. But when they got to the halfway point, that is when they got TERRIBLY angry and plotted together to attack the people and harm Nehemiah. The enemy will ESCALTE the attack in direct proportion to your service to God.
When the enemy attacks…you must fight back. Nehemiah told the people: remember the Lord and fight! One of the strategies of good generals is to remind soldiers of the reason they fight. You may have heard the battle cry: Remember the Alamo! That was a call to remember what the enemy had done. In the word of God, we find a different call: Remember the day of Midian! This is a call to remember what God has done for us in the past and to trust that He will do it again.
When God calls you and gives you an assignment, He will sustain you until you complete it. He is powerful to protect you. He who started the good work in you, will complete it.