Not Coming Down!

19 Nov Not Coming Down!

November 19, 2023

Not Coming Down!

And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you? Nehemiah 6:3

Everyone is working on something; getting started can be challenging, and staying in the moment to finish harder. For instance, that online class you started, the exercise class you need to join, that closet that needs to be cleaned, the project or assignment you keep putting off at work/home that keeps moving farther down the list. Our study for today is about shutting down distractions in whatever form. They divert our attention and diminish our efforts to achieve a desired goal. Shut the distractions down now!

Nehemiah, the author of the opening scripture, was a cupbearer, patriot, statesman, and reformer. He takes on this project of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem years after the Jewish people are allowed to return to their homeland from captivity, but the city wall remains in shambles.

As the project starts and has visual progress, the enemies pop up to block and destroy him and the work. See, walls protect us and give order and boundaries to homes, cities, and nations. Even a mental fence does the same thing for us by putting an imaginary wall between us and challenging people to keep us calm and focused.

Read this account of Nehemiah dealing with distractions from the enemy from the Message Bible version. “When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and that there were no more breaks in it—even though I hadn’t yet installed the gates—Sanballat and Geshem sent this message: “Come and meet with us at Kephirim in the valley of Ono.” I knew they were scheming to hurt me so I sent messengers back with this: “I’m doing a great work; I can’t come down. Why should the work come to a standstill just so I can come down to see you?”

Get a project objective you want to achieve in mind and decide right now that it will be completed soon; establishing a deadline always works for me. It could be painting that room for your loved one before the holidays, a personal habit like stopping auguring, or something as simple as overexerting yourself physically and emotionally. Pray, plan, organize resources and the support you need to complete the project and don’t come down until it’s finished. It will not take long either; it only took Nehemiah and the people working with him 52 days to complete that city-wide project.

Mediate these verses they will help us during times when we feel distracted:

• 1 Corinthians 15:58 – Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
• Matthew 6:33 – But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
• Colossians 3:2 – Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
• Proverbs 4:25 – Let thine eyes look right on and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
• Philippians 3:14 – I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Theresa Woodard