Posts Tagged ‘Nehemiah’

Keep Up Your Great Work

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

Into what activity are you pouring your time and energy? Perhaps you’re a stay-at-home mom whose days are consumed chasing toddlers or driving your tweens to and from extra-curricular activities. Maybe you’re a career gal using your skills in office management, teaching, or nursing. Perhaps you’re caring for a senior parent, or teaching a Sunday school class for preschoolers, or working hard to keep a difficult marriage intact. Whatever it is…if you’re where God wants you…remain focused and faithful on the great work He’s called you to do!

Nehemiah sets a good example for us. He and his people had undertaken the project of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. They’d persevered despite the enemy’s threats and taunts. Now, as completion loomed on the horizon, their enemies tried once more to disrupt them. The three ringleaders sent a message to Nehemiah: “Come, meet with us.”

To an uninformed bystander, the request may have appeared reasonable. After all, what harm was there in simply meeting with these men? But Nehemiah was no dummy. He knew better than to fall for the enemy’s tactics. Recognizing that the men meant harm, he replied, “Not a chance. I’m doing a great work! I cannot stop to come and meet with you” (Nehemiah 6:2,3).

As a stay-at-home mom of three preschoolers, I often struggled with recognizing the greatness of my work. I compared my days with those of my friends who’d chosen to work outside their homes and felt like I was missing out. More than once I was tempted to do as the inner voice suggested: “Go find a real job – something that rewards you with a paycheck.” For me, doing so would have meant playing into the enemy’s hands. Thanks to a husband who encouraged me to value my role as a stay-at-home mom, I rejected the temptation. “No thanks,” I said. “I’m doing a great work! I cannot…I will not…stop what I’m doing to feed my felt need for public recognition or fulfillment in other ways.”

Whatever your role, it’s possible you’ve faced (or are facing) taunts and temptations to quit, to leave your work and turn your focus to something else. Let me encourage you to disregard those thoughts. If you’re where God has planted you, then stay focused and faithful there. Recognize that what you’re doing is valuable in His eyes. You’re doing a great work, my friend. Stay where you are until He moves you elsewhere, and you’ll find joy in obeying His voice, not the other.

Here’s a question for you: What’s your great work? Have you ever been tempted to turn your focus elsewhere? If so, how did you respond and what was the outcome?

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Take Nehemiah’s Advice

Monday, August 17th, 2009

I tried to post on Friday, honestly. So there we were, sitting in a hotel parking lot in southern Alberta after a marathon 13-hour drive, trying our best to hook into the wireless (we weren’t patrons there, otherwise we could have hooked up in a room). The scene went something like this:

  • Gene, handing the laptop to Grace: “Okay, here ya go. It’s hooked up.”
  • Grace, taking the laptop from Gene: “Great! Thank you! Now I can post – hey, wait a minute. It’s not connected.”
  • Gene, taking the laptop back: “That’s odd. It was online when I gave it to you. Look – it’s connected now.”
  • Grace, taking the laptop from Gene: “Okay. Let’s get this job done…hey, what’s up with this? It just disconnected.”

 Bless Gene’s heart, he fiddled with my laptop for 45 minutes, trying one thing and then another. We even moved to a different parking lot and gave it another try, but we had no luck. Finally, with less than an hour remaining to get ready for and show up at my niece’s wedding, I had to cast off my good intentions. Such is life. Later that night he discovered that my laptop’s battery was loose – that’s why the connection was intermittent.

Now it’s Sunday noon and we’re driving past Hope, B.C. Nearly home after our whirlwind  1600-mile trip to Alberta. I’ll post from my office when I get there. Here’s the latest devotional….

Several days ago, a longtime American friend told me that her adult son had recently joined the military reserves. She shook her head and said, “I’m afraid of what might happen to him. Hopefully our world will become a more peaceful place because I really don’t want him to end up overseas.”

I appreciated this woman’s honesty and reassured her that she’s not alone in her concern for her son. Everywhere I travel, I meet women with similar fears. Some are mothers whose teenagers are involved in drugs and sex, seemingly bent on self-destruction. Some are moms with adult children who are in prison, or headed for divorce, or struggling with unemployment issues. Others, with younger kids, are fearful of the media’s negative influence on their offspring, or of secular worldviews learned at school, or of the bullying issue.

So what’s a mom to do when struggling with fear for her kids’ well-being? I suggest following the advice Nehemiah gave when he and his people encountered obstacles while trying to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem: “…As I looked over the situation, I called together the leaders and the people and said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your friends, your families, and your homes!’” (Nehemiah 4:14).

Whatever situation we’re facing with our kids or even our extended families, we can choose not to let fear overcome us. We can refuse to entertain the frightening what-if thoughts and focus our minds on promises from God’s Word and on truths about His character instead. Then we need to take our positions and do battle on our loved ones’ behalf. This means we stand in the gap for them through prayer, and we take other practical action when necessary and appropriate.

Don’t be afraid…remember the Lord…and fight for those you love. Great advice, Nehemiah!

Think of a time when you applied this counsel and share it with us!

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