WHEN YOUR BACK IS AGAINST THE WALL PART 1
Text- Nehemiah 4:1-9
Introduction
When I was a child growing up I was actively involved in sports. When I decided I wanted to play Little League baseball my parents thought that was great. When I entered Pony League and Babe Ruth league and played on the All Star team my relatives and friends responded with pride and congratulations.
I remember distinctly as a sophomore in high school playing on our varsity football team. That particular year our team entered the CIF play-offs for the first time in the history of our school. For the next three years my name appeared many times within the news paper for my achievements on the grid iron. Again the response from parents and friends was, "That's great", or "I'm so proud".
After I graduated from high school I decided to enlist into the United States Navy. Never before was my father more proud of his son.
During my hitch in the Navy I received several commendations and awards for service above and beyond the call of duty. My shipmates responded with a "Well done" and "That's great".
On August 29, 1974 I made another decision though that was met with somewhat less enthusiasm from both my friends and relatives. On that day I accepted Jesus Christ as my savior. I remember that day as if it were today.
On that same afternoon while I sat at the kitchen table I also made a commitment to be baptized. As an infant I was baptized into the Catholic Church. On our way home from Tulare, California that evening I decided to stop at my parents home to tell them what had happened and that my intentions were to join a Baptist church.
As I spoke to them they didn't respond with pride and encouragement or "That's great", as they had do so often, but rather they were furious and angry over what I had done and was planning to do. That evening my father told me to leave and never to bring the Bible into his house again. When I returned to my ship many of my shipmates refused to hang around me and continually tried to hinder me from serving the lord.
Then, on November 5, 1975, one year later I surrendered to the Gospel ministry.
My parents had always wanted me to become a doctor and when I told them that I was going to go to seminary they were flabbergasted.
It wasn't until spring of 1979, 4 years later, when I preached for the first time in view of a call at a church that my parents heard me and told me that they were proud of what I was doing.
Of course as most of you know, God has greatly changed my parent's attitude over the years. And even though they are not yet saved, I can see how that they have become more and more receptive to the Gospel message.
In 1982 my wife and I had the opportunity to go to our 10 year high school class reunion. Many class friends as well as my best man for my wedding were present. At the doorway of the banquet hall there was a chart showing all of the different kinds of occupations of the class members. As my best man and I talked about the kinds of occupations that were listed he asked, "who in the world do you think the two preachers are on the list?" I told him, "I know who one of them is." "You do", he asked, "Who is it?" "Me", I replied. For the rest of the evening he didn't say more than 10 words to me and I still haven't heard from him to this day.
This morning I’m going to begin a new four part series of messages from the book of Nehemiah called, "Knocked Down But Not Out". Our text is found in Nehemiah 4:1-9 and the title of the message is “When Your Back Is Against The Wall”.
When I look back at these experiences and others that I have had since I have been saved I realize that I was looking at serving the Lord through rose-colored glasses, never realizing that anyone would ever oppose me. Now however I have learned that anyone who makes a genuine commitment to serve the Lord will face opposition.
2 Timothy 3:12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. (NIV)
Here in our text we find a classic example of how a child of God will face opposition when they are determined to do God's will in their life. What do you do when your back is against the wall? When the odds are against you and it looks like there’s no way of escape? According to our text, you do three things.