Opposition in Nehemiah (Discouragement)

Nehemiah 4:10–23 NIV84

10 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.” 11 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.” 12 Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.” 13 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. 14 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.” 15 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 his own work. 16 From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah 17 who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, 18 and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me. 19 Then I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. 20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!” 21 So we continued the work with half the men holding spears, from the first light of dawn till the stars came out. 22 At that time I also said to the people, “Have every man and his helper stay inside Jerusalem at night, so they can serve us as guards by night and workmen by day.” 23 Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he went for water.

Recognize Discouragement (10-12)

It can come from within (10)

Nehemiah 4:10 NIV84

10 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.”

Take note that not all people who bring discouraging news are necessarily evil.

Judah saw the huge task in front of them and was probably just saying what they were all thinking!

Discouragement can come from within when those who know all too well the chore ahead, the difficulties in getting the job done, and those they will be working with-both the hard workers and those who will settle for the bare minimum.

Discouragement from within often comes with a bit of truth, or even, complete truth.

Nobody likes to hear the negatives of an already tough situation.

Look at their situation:

“the strength is failing”

“there is so much rubbish that we are not able to rebuild.”

These were facts to be sure-everyone knew it.

Here is the problem with discouragement from within:

When there is an issue, everyone knows it-you don’t have to be the one to verbalize it in such a way that makes an already difficult situation more difficult.

Do you think you see something that everyone is missing? The Sunday morning service is probably not the best venue for this. Bring it to the attention of your pastor, SS teacher, or a deacon.

Even better, if it’s an issue we all know about-work to see it resolved.

Put time in yourself.

Ask how you can help with prayer, time, gathering friends to work or with finances.

Discouragement can come from within, but we need to make sure it doesn’t come from us.

It can come from without (11)

Nehemiah 4:11 NIV84

11 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.”

“Our enemies”

You see here how the enemies are working to secretly undermine the work they are engaged in?

Enemies are those who oppose you all the time, not the church friend you had an issue with last year.

Enemies usually have an agenda that is opposite of yours.

Also remember that your ultimate enemy is not that angry man or woman, but in fact unseen.

Ephesians 6:12 NKJV

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

These powers don’t simply wish to make it difficult for your Sunday School class, your relationship at home, or cast an evil spell on a car;

they seek to destroy you!

John 10:10 NKJV

10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Before we move on, look at the end of verse 10:

Jesus came that we may have life…how does He want us to have this life that He provides?

Abundantly!!! We aren’t going to have abundant life by either being a part of the discouragement or allowing an outside force to constantly discourage us and steal our joy in Christ!

It can lead to despair (12)

Battling Discouragement (13-23)

“they told us ten times”

This is a Jewish idiom meaning, “a lot of times.”

Similar examples are found in ; ; and .

We see here that constant discouragement can lead to despair.

“From whatever place you turn, they will be upon us.”

Their neighbors are basically saying, “give up!”

When you have multiple people around you telling you to give up. What do you want to do?

When we’ve gotten to this point, it’s important that we stop for a minute. Evaluate what we are doing, and seek Biblical counsel.

It might be that you are doing something unwise and all your family and friends see it and are trying to save you from yourself.

Or, it might be that you simply need to stop and battle the discouragement head-on.

Look with me to verses 13-23.

Battling Discouragement (13-23)

Make a plan (13)

Nehemiah saw the discouragement and reacted appropriately.

The first thing he did was to “make a plan.”

Verse 13 says that he

“positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.”

The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), .

The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), .

He recognized the fear of attack and planned appropriately.

When we are getting pounded by the world it’s so easy to curl up into ourselves and hide at home rather than face the issues that we know we need to face.

After we’ve recognized that we are discouraged, we need to take time to make a plan.

Ask:

What’s happening right now?

Am I in sin?

Is someone else’s sin affecting me?

What does God’s Word have to say about the issue?

How can I move forward in the Lord?

Speak encouragement (14)

After we “make a plan,” we need some encouragement. The road is tough and we can’t do it alone.

“And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”

The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), .

Nehemiah 4:14 NKJV

14 And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”

Nehemiah looked out among the people. He was taking stock of the situation.

He spoke to the various groups-understanding everyone needed to be on the same side.

He spoke words of encouragement to them.

“Do not be afraid” “Remember the Lord” Fight for your family and houses”

When you see someone going through a difficult time, speak encouraging words. Leave Negative Nancy at home and bring an “A” game of encouragement.

If you are going through a hard time, encourage others by knowing and saying, “The Lord is on my side, He has this.” “I know the Bible tells me that I’ll face troubles, I just want to honor Him during this time.”

Your discouragers will notice (15)

Nehemiah 4:15 NKJV

15 And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work.

When we allow the Lord to take care of our discouragement rather than trying to fix it (them) in our own power, those who discourage us will notice.

We aren’t replying in kind.

We are responding with scripture, love, gentleness, and mercy.

1 Peter 5:8 NKJV

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Plan to adjust (19)

Nehemiah 4:19–20 NKJV

19 Then I said to the nobles, the rulers, and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated far from one another on the wall. 20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”

Remember that everything isn’t black and white.

When we make a plan, we may need to make an audible in the middle of it.

We might think we are handling discouragement just fine and then-WHAM-we get fit from different angle, with another issue.

Plan to adjust just like Nehemiah had the Israelites doing.

Keep working, being on guard, but be ready to rally toward the trouble when you hear the trumpet.

Be mindful of future discouragement (23)

Finally, be mindful of future discouragement.

Be careful of this attitude: “If I can just get through this issue, everything will be okay.”

Those over the age of 65 know this isn’t true.

Life is a series of troubles and trials. Each one different than the rest.

Nehemiah 4:23 NKJV

23 So neither I, my brethren, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me took off our clothes, except that everyone took them off for washing.

Why didn’t they take their clothes off?

They needed to be ready for the potential of a coming challenge.

Romans 13:14 NKJV

14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

If you are here today and are struggling with discouragement, I want to pray with you. During our time of invitation, I’ll be standing right here and will be glad to pray with you.

Maybe you’ve been struggling this week with something that everyone thinks about:

What happens to me when I die? What does God think about me?

Let me answer these and give you a couple options.

What happens when I die? The Bible says that when we die, the default place to go to is a place called hell.

God’s Word in tells us that we’ve all sinned and because of that sin, tells us we’ve earned death-spiritual death.

But there’s Good News in Rom. 5:8

Romans 5:8 NKJV

8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 10:13 NKJV

13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Mark 1:15 NKJV

15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

If you have never repented and believed in the Gospel and would like to do so today, I want to encourage you to come talk to myself, or one of the other guys up here with me.

We want to make sure you understand the Gospel message-that you are dying to yourself and you are desiring to follow Christ as a follower of His.