Keep on keeping on….

So as the Jewish people start to rebuild, they face opposition to the rebuilding. Just as when we set out on a project, we often find ourselves facing opposition too.

The reaction of others

When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed.  Nehemiah 4:1

People get annoyed. Angry even. They don’t like change. They feel threatened. They make it known.

Ridicule

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?”  Nehemiah 4:2

The whole ‘who do you think you are?’ thing again.

Undermining

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!”  Nehemiah 4:3

Words that cause us to doubt our ability to get the task done.

Physical resistance

They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it.  Nehemiah 4:8

Ganging up to resist the plan.

The enormity of the task

Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, “The strength of the labourers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.”  Nehemiah 4:10

What have we taken on? Can we really do this? We’re ready to give up.

Fear

Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”  Nehemiah 4:12

Being attacked from all sides.

Of course, these six things lead to discouragement. It’s natural. We’re only human. We get overwhelmed by the enormity of what we’ve taken on. We doubt our own ability to carry on. We’re exhausted. There’s too much to do and we are too fragile and not up to the task. We feel unsupported, like people are watching and waiting for us to fail. Worse than that, we feel people are looking for obstacles to put in our way to make it harder and make us give up. We feel isolated and scared. We feel worried that we have dragged others into this adventure and they are going to be disappointed and worse, hurt, by the experience.

So what does Nehemiah do? Maybe that could help us today.

He tells God what’s going on

Hear us, our God, for we are despised.  Nehemiah 4:4

Everyone continues to do their best, whatever that may look like

So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.  Nehemiah 4:6

He stays safe

But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat. Nehemiah 4:9

He encourages and motivates 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.”  Nehemiah 4:14

He reminds the people that they are not alone

“The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!”  Nehemiah 4:19-20

He finds a way to continue, to keep on keeping on

So we continued the work with half the men holding spears, from the first light of dawn till the stars came out.  Nehemiah 4:21

Let me be completely honest with you. From where I’m sitting right now, the next two weeks feel completely impossible. I feel weak and pathetic admitting this, but I’m terrified of Christmas. Always have been. I don’t deal with it well in my head. It’s all too emotionally fraught and unsettling somehow. So much expectation and anticipation. So much pressure to make it significant and perfect. Andy always finds this time of year hard too – the spending, the extra work pressure, the hype, the emotion. Add to that the extra hours I am working, the lists of food and gifts still to buy, Keir being back home from uni, the extra church services, the visitors, the temptation to eat and drink too much, the state of our hall mid decorating, having nothing nice to wear because of this stupid challenge to not buy clothes for a year, a yoga blog to write, the rest of Nehemiah to get through, three Christmas events to go to to spread my Asda elf cheer………

Forget a major project. My life feels like a massive mountain to climb right now and I don’t feel equipped to climb it. And I know other people have far more to deal with and that makes me feel selfish and pathetic for even mentioning it.

So to all of us, I say……

1. Tell God all about it
2. Just do your best, whatever your best looks like right now
3. Stay safe – your health (mental and physical) needs protecting
4. Face the fear. Admit it. Deal with it.
5. Don’t be afraid. You are not alone. God is always with you.
6. Keep on keeping on. One small step at a time. Bitesize chunks.

So I will get out of bed. I will go for a run. However rubbish my run is, it’s still a run. It will be good for me mentally and physically. I’ll talk to God while I run. I’ll focus on getting there and back and nothing else that today may hold. I will put my foot in front of another and I will make it home again.

And then I will face the next thing.