Christian Devotional – January 8, 2020

Day 8 – The plan, the examples, the opposition, the response. Four verses with profound meaning and impact. Read Nehemiah 2:17-20.

Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach.” I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king’s words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let us arise and build.” So they put their hands to the good work. But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard it, they mocked us and despised us and said, “What is this thing you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” So I answered them and said to them, “The God of heaven will give us success; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no portion, right or memorial in Jerusalem.”
Nehemiah 2:17‭-‬20 NASB
https://bible.com/bible/100/neh.2.17-20.NASB

The time has come for Nehemiah to lay out the plan that God has given him. He does so very briefly and simply. Then he gives the examples of how God is already moving to see this plan come together. He wants the people to understand that this is something that God has put together and is already moving in. Then he has opposition, which always comes running once you get started doing something God wants you do. Finally, we seen the Nehemiah’s response to the opposition.

When we think about the plan that God has for us, can we share it with others? Do we involve others so they can be following God’s work together? If God has given us a plan, He will enable us to share it succinctly with others. Plus, he will give us examples of how he is already at work as an encouragement to us.

Now, we should just expect that we will have opposition. Satan will never sit quietly by while we are working to obey God. But we can respond appropriately to the attacks, then get back to the work. Don’t get distracted by the attacks. Stay focused on God today and He will guard from the attacks.