GETTING BACK TO WORK PART 3

Text - Nehemiah 4:15-23

Introduction

We are in this series called, “Knocked Down But Not Out” from the book of Nehemiah.  Our text tonight is found in Nehemiah 4:15-23 and the title of my message is, “Getting Back To Work”.

Last Sunday evening, we looked at how the people of Israel, who were rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem, had become discouraged.  The discouragement was not from outside forces, it was not from the enemy, but rather it came from those within the Nation of Israel.  It came from the one group of people that you would never expect it to come from; the Tribe of Judah.

I remember years ago, I might have told you this story, you’ve probably forgotten it by now, but years ago, when I felt that God was calling me to preach – did I ever tell you this story before?  No?  I had been over visiting with my pastor and told him that I felt that God had called me to preach.  And he said, then I’d like you to preach the following Sunday.  I thought about that and thought, well ok, I guess I can do that, so I went home to my wife, my beloved wife, and I told her that I felt God was calling me to preach and she didn’t respond to favorably to that.  In fact, it was a very negative response.  In fact, she said that she didn’t want to be married to a preacher.  In fact, she packed her bags and she was actually going to leave me.  She decided that in her leaving, she was going to take our only begotten son.  So she picked up her bags, and our son, she opened the door, she said goodbye, and just before I closed the door in her face, I took David out of her arms, closed the door and said goodbye.

Now you don’t expect that kind of thing to happen from your own wife.  At least I didn’t.   But that was a very discouraging thing.  That’s almost 16 - 17 years ago, but nonetheless, it’s something that really did happen.  And of course you can see our loving relationship now has improved dramatically since those days.  Things did work out - praise the Lord that they did work out because I know of many many other preachers who went through the same exact experience but, you know, it didn’t work out.  Their wives left.  So it sometimes does not work out favorably.  And that was a very discouraging thing.

For the first couple of years of our marriage, and for the first couple of years when I was going to seminary, it was a very discouraging thing.  I know that my wife has talked to some of you about it and told you how she felt during those early years of my ministry, and how that it was even discouraging for her as well.  It was a very hard time.

The point that I want to make is that sometimes discouragement comes from an area, from a person, or from a group of people that never in your wildest dreams could you ever anticipate it to come from.  I mean you would never believe that your own wife or your own flesh and blood, or your own church, or your own brothers and sisters in the Lord could ever discourage you like Judah tried to discourage the Nation of Israel from rebuilding the walls around the City of Jerusalem.

When you’ve been discouraged, how do you get back to work doing the things you know you need to do for yourself, your family, your church or for God?  I want you to notice three things the Nation of Israel did as they got back to work and rebuilt this wall.