When God calls us to a task; He gives us all we need to complete it. (Read that again.) God begins with His work in us.  His work involves building our faith with relentless resolve to be and do what He says.  This resolve to trust and obey is the foundation of our faith for it will encourage and carry us through when the work becomes so difficult and makes us so physically and emotionally weary that we are tempted to give up altogether.  But it is in the difficulty that God’s power, strength, wisdom, and glory is seen most obviously!  

When God’s people pray, asking for wisdom and help; God shows up at just the right time, His time, to correct our course while encouraging the continuation of His work in us and in the work He has given us to do.  FOR HE IS GOD!  He was, is and always will be the One and Only God who can move mountains, build walls from the rubble and ashes of previous defeats, overcomes our bullies in the work, all while restoring the lives of those whose hearts are fully committed to him.  HE is God.  There is no one like our God.  HE is God.  We are not.

Bullies who are full of hate for God cannot defeat God. Bullies are led by their sin nature of selfishness and greed.  The Enemy of God is cunning enough to use our weaknesses of character for the purpose to bring down the righteous who diligently work with all their hearts to please God for their good and His glory.  Bullies succumb to the leading of the prince of darkness. Jesus calls him, Destroyer.  This deceiving evil spirit does all he can to destroy all that is done by those who love and follow God.  However, evil is limited in what he can do even though his arrogance claims otherwise.  Evil knows and trembles at the name of Jesus but that does not stop him until God’s people fall to their knees and cry out in His Name for help.  Evil cannot overcome the power of praying people who are confident in the One and Only God who will save them.

When faced with opposition the first thing Nehemiah did was to pray then post guard against the enemy. We can learn much from the way Nehemiah led the people of God in obedience to God.  Bullies don’t like it when they don’t get their way in the battles for power.  God will always have His way and will protect His people.  Nehemiah, led of God, encouraged God’s weary people with the power of God; “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.”

Bring it, bullies!  God has readied us for battle, the One who will overcome! To God be the glory!

Nehemiah 4

Opposition to the Rebuilding

When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, ² and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?”

³ Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, “What they are building—even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!”

⁴ Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. ⁵ Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders.

⁷ But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. ⁸ They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. ⁹ But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.

¹⁰ Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, “The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.”

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.”

⁶ So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.

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.

¹⁶ From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah ¹⁷ who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, ¹⁸ and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me.

¹⁹ Then I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. ²⁰ Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!”

²¹ So we continued the work with half the men holding spears, from the first light of dawn till the stars came out. ²² At that time I also said to the people, “Have every man and his helper stay inside Jerusalem at night, so they can serve us as guards by night and as workers by day.” ²³ Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he went for water.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

In life on earth, we are either the bullies or the ones being bullied.  Here is the difference for clarification:

• Bullies get angry, jealous, and envious when good things happen in and through other people.
• Bullies are resentful toward others who are recognized for doing good.
• Bullies are super self-centered. They arrogantly and forcibly demand their own way, whether for good or for bad, for they feel their way is the only way.  Even the good can turn ugly when a bully gets their way and makes everyone else miserable in the process.
• Bullies look like nice people until they cease to become noticed and applauded.
• Bullies often have been neglected or abused in their past so they carry a chip on their shoulder that they dare anyone to remove.  Fight or flight syndrome comes to mind.  Fight is the option for most bullies.  Their need is recognition.
• Bullies reside with the Body of Christ and first require sincere prayer asking for the wisdom of God and a change of heart from God for bullies.  “Love and pray for your enemies”, Jesus teaches us.  It is in prayer that we lose our fear and/or resentment of our bullies as we ask God to change our hearts toward our bullies and then pray that He will change their hearts, helping bullies come to know God who loves them unconditionally.  It is in prayer that we forgive them—for they “know not what they are doing.” (Jesus’s example to pray for our enemies.)  After prayer, we show them the love of God.
• Bullies are hard to love but it is the love of God they need most.

As Nehemiah led the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls, they encountered bullies who opposed the rebuilding. These bullies they did all they could to discourage them from their work. The situation got worse when Sanballat and his cronies threatened to kill them unless they ceased their work. By Nehemiah’s example, the Jews called on God to fight for them. Though weary in the work; they did not give up.  They prayed for God’s help, protection, and wisdom for they were confident that God was fighting on their behalf.

PAUSE to pray, asking for guidance and resolve;

Do I know that God is fighting for me? 

Do I truly rely and know that God goes before you, behind you, and stands beside you?

Have I forgotten that God is with me—always?

Do I truly believe, with a doubt, that God is for me; not against me? 

Is my heart completely His?

Our bully-like traits will dissipate like an early morning fog when we surrender, giving all we are to all God is, in Jesus Name.  When we pray “May Your will be done” in every detail of our lives—especially when it gets hard—we discover a peace that surpasses all others’ understandings and philosophies.  We begin to see life from God’s perspective with confidence knowing Christ lives in us.  It is in the difficulty times that God does His best work—in us and in His work!  So, we say glory to God! He knows what He is doing!

Lord,

“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.
Rescue me from my enemies, Lord, for I hide myself in you.
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit
    lead me on level ground.

For your name’s sake, Lord, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble. In your unfailing love, silence my enemies; destroy all my foes, for I am your servant.” (Psalm 143:8:12)

And may those who slander or mock me come to know you with new heart filled with Your love.  May we judge less and love more.

In Jesus Name, Amen