Dealing With the Enemy

But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men 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. Nehemiah 4: 7-8

We can also expect the enemies of God to come against us in our work and walk with the Lord. They may well come to pick a fight or stir up trouble against us. They may pick on our easier buttons to push. Maybe our pride. Maybe our temper. Maybe our past failures. Perhaps after laboring for so long we allow ourselves to lose sight of who we are truly working for. We should not look for the accolades or appreciation of man; just that we are within the will of God. We do not labor for our friends. We do not labor for our Ministry Leaders. We do not even labor for our Pastor. We labor for God. Now that we know the scheme of the enemy will be to come against us and stir up trouble; what should we do? Follow what Nehemiah did:

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

The enemy is going to try and infiltrate your heart. He may try by sending mockers in your way at first but eventually it could move into a more aggressive assault on our heart. It could attack our pride, our self-righteousness, our intellect. Nehemiah says to do two things pray and post a guard day and night. Then the threat will be met. For us these are intertwined. The more we pray and stay in the Word of God the more on guard our hearts will be. How important is this?

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Proverbs 4: 23

Above all else! Soon however, the strength of the builders would begin to falter. The Bible tells us they began to believe all the reports they heard about the threats being made against them. Nehemiah responded as we need to:

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. 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 brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes." Nehemiah 4: 13-14

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