Have you ever set out to follow God, and do something you know He has set before you to accomplish, only to find that as you are working at it you experience hindrance and obstacles along the way?

That is common to every follower of Jesus. It is one way God sees how committed we are to His work.

It is also a way for us to experience God’s power and presence as we follow Him in the work He has set before us.

Satan is the one who is ultimately behind anything that appears to be a roadblock to accomplishing God’s work. It is a spiritual matter, as Paul states in Ephesians 6:12: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

Therefore, our “tools” to overcome any frustrating situation are spiritual in nature. Please see Ephesians 6:10-20 for Paul’s list of those items. [6:14-18: ^” Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”]

In Nehemiah 4:7-15, God provides us with one account of how His people were following His instructions, only to run into a roadblock. But God provided a way through, so that the people could complete their project.

“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. They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. [We shouldn’t be surprised when our enemies plot against us. External hindrances are always a possibility.]

But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat. [One of our great tools God has provided – prayer! Never underestimate the power of seeking God.]

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.” [Internal hindrances to God’s work are to be expected. But God is prepared to handle them.]

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.” Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.” [Fear can snag our attention, and can cause us to forget to seek God.]

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. [God gave His leader wisdom on how to frustrate the enemies’ plans!]

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.” [Nehemiah didn’t allow fear to derail him. He boldly reminded the people of who their God is, and encouraged the people to stand boldly so that they could accomplish what God had planned for them to do.]

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.” [Nehemiah’s encouragement stirred confidence and faith in God so that the people returned to their work!

How might you relate to the fear and frustration the Israelites were experiencing in the above account? What is God asking you to do so that His work proceeds? You might be the one He is calling to remind people of His character – His omnipotent, unending provision of help and encouragement for those who love Him, and are called according to His purpose.

Nehemiah was encouraged because He remembered who God is. 

Nehemiah then was able to uplift others by stating the truth about God.

The Bible contains more information about the character of God than any one person can digest in a lifetime. But God wants us to keep digging into His Word so that we can learn more about Him each day. God’s Holy Spirit will help us understand what we need to know about our great Lord and Savior, so that we can also be strong in our faith, and encourage others to have confidence in God, especially when life is tough. It seems that life is tough every day!

The key to all of this is to have a living, vibrant, and active relationship with God, through the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you do not have that relationship, please contact me at: ButGodCares@gmail.com, because God wants to have a relationship with you.

Living for Jesus, Donna

P.S. If this has helped you, please feel free to share it with others!

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Copyright 2023 Donna Shappy   All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other – without the prior permission of the author.