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Good morning,
"But when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and in a great rage, and he ridiculed the Jews. And he said before his brethren and the army of Samaria, What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore things [at will and by themselves]? Will they [try to bribe their God] with sacrifices? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, seeing they are burned? Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him, and he said, What they build — if a fox climbs upon it, he will break down their stone wall." (Neh.4:1-3) Nehemiah's account is one of courage, even when being taunted by the enemy. Nehemiah means Jehovah comforts. This book shows us the Comforter, the precious Holy Spirit and His aid, and assistance in our lives as we work with the Lord to restore the broken walls in our lives and those of our families. Remember; " You'll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past. You'll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again." (Message Bible; Is. 58:12)
Listen to the voice of Sanballat and Tobiah and you will recognize and be able to stop the enemy when he starts taunting you, as you work with God to rebuild new strong walls from the rubble of your past. Remember the devil uses the same tactics over and over again, he relies on the fact that we won't apply what we know to change our course. We must trip him up by doing the Word of God! Let's break it down, with the questions and taunts of those who yielded themselves to the enemy, be cognizant of the fact that the enemy whispers these same things to try to get us to come down off the walls that will restore and fix many generations. First, "He ridiculed the Jews", by saying, "what are these feeble Jews doing?" Ridicule means to mock, to deride, make fun of insultingly; to be unkind with the intention of humiliating; to be malicious. He attacks us, to try to get us to doubt ourselves and our abilities. He wants us to think that we could never affect a change in our generation or, our own lives. Secondly he said; "will they restore things at will and by themselves?" Next, he tries to make you think that your motives are wrong, or, at least done out of pride, or some other "self promotion" reason. If that doesn't succeed, then he uses his weapon of choice, to " throw doubt, suspicion, mistrust, and wrong beliefs about God. "Will they try to bribe their God with sacrifices?" Whatever it takes, to get us to think less of our faith in God and the things of God. Another tried and true way is to whisper to us about "time". Most of us believers give up because of, 'time'. We want everything done before we ask, or at least by the time the thoughts have words and leave our mouth. Why is it taking so long? "Will they finish up in a day?" Time, time!
If we persevere beyond these attempts to stop us from continuing to rebuild, then he pulls out the "impossibility card". "Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, seeing they are burned?" Notice, he uses our senses against us. Can't you see that rebuilding these walls are impossible, they are burned into ashes, how can you be expected to do anything about the mess your life is in? Just in case you have been bold and brave enough to believe God, then he pours acid into the wound with subtle comments, that eat like rot on a piece of fruit. What they build — if a fox climbs upon it, he will break down their stone wall. In other words, even if you do something it is insignificant, and in the great scheme of things it is to small to matter. Lies, lies, lies. Let's not listen to him any longer, let's receive the counsel and help of the Comforter and keep building just as Nehemiah did. "So on October 2 the wall was finished — just fifty-two days after we had begun. When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God." ( =Neh. 6:15-16) We bring humiliation to the enemy's camp when we rebuild with the help of God by Holy Spirit, when we are bold in Him, then the wicked will flee from us. "Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world!" (1 John 4:4) Let's believe the truth and not a lie, we can do it, rebuild those walls, let's finish it.
Love,
Pastor D.
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Daughters of Z 