Return, Repent, Rebuild

Do You hear this? Are You paying attention, our True God? We are worse than nothing to these men. Turn their curses back on them. Plunder them. Pillage them until they are captives in a foreign land. Do not cover over their wickedness or erase the reality of their sin before you—they have mocked You right in front of the men rebuilding the city for You. We returned to building, focused and determined to work as one people. We stacked rock upon rock until one end of the wall met the other and it grew to half of its original height. (Nehemiah 4:4-6 VOICE)

If there is one thing we can count on, it is condemnation from our enemy - there will be more opposition to the steps we take forward than anytime we just settle in and coast. The enemy is a mocker of mankind - always has been and he's not about to change now. One of his greatest tools is to use words and threats to turn us away from an active pursuit of truth and the things God would have us do in our lives.

Nehemiah and the people of Jerusalem had suffered great defeat with the walls of their great city in ruins. The mission - rebuild the walls, reestablish a place of worship, get right with God once again. The mission was great - the untold barriers to the success of that mission were not! The more we are determined to make 'right moves' with God, the more the enemy of our souls will be determined to 'keep us right where we were'. 

The thing I want us to see today is the determination of a soul dedicated to the purposes of God. Nehemiah had a burden to see the city restored and the people established in their worship of the one true God again. His heart came through in all he did, from approaching King Artaxerxes to get the permission and needed supplies to do the work to countering all the attacks of their enemies in the process of rebuilding. It is the determination of heart that often drives us to fulfill God's purposes, not the ability of our own spirits to overcome defeatist tactics to undermine it!

The rebuilders were mocked, taunted, and every attempt was made to undermine their progress. Why? Anytime we take to rebuilding the walls of defense against our enemies, there will be opposition! Especially when those walls of defense are meant to keep Satan out! Yet, in the midst of all the jeers, taunts, and threats, the people stacked rock upon rock until one end of the wall met the other. The builders didn't use all fresh materials - they used what had once been a very solid defense and 'reconnected' each piece, one upon the other, until the connection was solid.

Sometimes we just need to allow the reconnection of the pieces we know already exist in our lives in order to rebuild our defenses. Returning to the 'build' isn't always easy, especially in the midst of opposition, but it isn't wasted effort. The effort to return to the task of creating solid defenses against our enemy will always be a good thing. Don't let the voices defeat you today. The 'mockers' will always mock, but we don't need to listen to their taunts. God's plan is always bigger than their threats! Just sayin!