Discouragement from all sides

[10 ] And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall. [11] And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease. [12] And it came to pass, that when the Jews which dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times, From all places whence ye shall return unto us they will be upon you. [13]Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows. [14] And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses. [15] And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work. Nehemiah 4:10-15

Discouragement is heard from all sides. The people of Judah said, “We will not be able to build the wall, there is so much rubbish”. The adversaries (enemy) also had much to say, “They won’t know what hit them, we will get in the middle of them and kill them and the work will stop.” The Jews came ten times and begged them to stop the work because the builders were in danger.

Nehemiah is not just hearing negative comments from the enemies but from the very ones he came to help. It appears he turns a deaf ear and makes plans to continue with the work. He gathers the people and gets them ready with weapons to defend themselves, if necessary.

When done with the preparations to get ready for a conflict, he meets with the leaders. “Don’t be afraid; remember Who is on our side. He will fight for us and our families.” Ever the cheerleader and encourager, Nehemiah speaks comforting words.

The enemy gets word that God is on the side of Nehemiah and the workers. Amazing that the enemies found out that the people knew the plan; this was a day without radio, newspaper or even pony express. They knew because somehow God let it be known. “I will not let you mess with my people.”

I believe Nehemiah was in the center of the will of God. The Lord gave him peace in the midst of opposition.

We serve the same God today; He is with us no matter what we are going through. God is the God of the hills and the valleys. He is with us in the “up” times; He is with us in the “down” times.

We need to be like Nehemiah. Trust in God all the time and He will see you through.

The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. Psalm 18:2

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. Psalm 20:7

Have a blessed day,
Donna

Discouragement?

When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. Nehemiah 2:10

Right in the middle of Nehemiah’s trip we are introduced to new individuals. According to Adam Clark, Sanballat the Horonite was “Probably a native of Horonaim, a Moabite by birth, and at this time governor of the Samaritans under the king of Persia. Tobiah the servant was an Ammonite; and here, under the Persian king, joint governor with Sanballat.”

The revival of Jerusalem as a great and strong city, which was Nehemiah’s aim, was likely to interfere with the prosperity, or at any rate the eminence, of Samaria. – Albert Barnes

Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite were not happy when they heard that someone was coming to help the children of Israel.

Nehemiah is on his journey, but people know he is coming. Even in Old Testament times word traveled quickly, especially when you have letters announcing the travel plans. Some were not happy with his coming and probably were plotting against Nehemiah.

As in our day, there is always someone who tries to discourage us, when we move forward to do work for the Lord. It grieves the world when God sends someone to help His children.

Nehemiah continued his travels and kept his eyes on the job before him. We need to keep our eyes on the job before us, remembering God knows what we are going through.

The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. Proverbs 15:3

Have a blessed day,
Donna

Discouragement

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. James 4:10

Have you ever been discouraged? Discouraged? Are you asking me if I have ever been discouraged? Do you have a hundred years to listen?

Discouragement can happen to anyone at any time. Sometimes it does not take much for us to become discouraged. It could range from not being recognized at work or church to something as small as stubbing our toe to something as large as a sickness in our family or the loss of a lifelong friendship.

Discouragement will surely draw us away from God, if we let it. Discouragement is not new. The Israelites were constantly discouraged, most of the time it was of their own doing. As the Israelites traveled through the wilderness they had to fight discouragement.

What discouraged the Israelites?

The journey
And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. Numbers 21:4

The surroundings
For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which the LORD had given them. Numbers 32:9

Others
Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there. Deuteronomy 1:28

When you read why the Israelites were discouraged you realize times have not really changed. We are facing the same kind of discouragements today. The situation may be different, the characters are different, the place is different, but the discouragements are the same.

Sometimes we need to step back and reevaluate the situation. Realize why you are doing things. Are you pleasing God or man? We need to keep our perspective right. We tend to get discouraged when we take our eyes off God.

Steps to conquer discouragement:

· Get close to God
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. James 4:8

· Renew your efforts to live a God focused life
For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. Galatians 1:10

Our manta must be “It is not about me but about Him”. Everything we do should be Christ centered.

· Encourage yourself in God
And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God. I Samuel 30:6

· Meditate on positive thoughts
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Philippians 4:8

John Gill’s commentary: think on these things: meditate upon them, revolve them in your minds, seriously consider them, and reason with yourselves about them, in order to put them into practice.

The Christian life is not a constant high. I have my moments of deep discouragement. I have to go to God in prayer with tears in my eyes, and say, 'O God, forgive me,' or 'Help me.'

~ Billy Graham

Have a blessed day,
Donna