Nehemiah 4:9-20

⁹ But we prayed to our God and guarded the city day and night to protect ourselves.¹⁰ Then the people of Judah began to complain, “The workers are getting tired, and there is so much rubble to be moved. We will never be able to build the wall by ourselves.”¹¹ Meanwhile, our enemies were saying, “Before they know what’s happening, we will swoop down on them and kill them and end their work.”¹² The Jews who lived near the enemy came and told us again and again, “They will come from all directions and attack us!” ¹³ So I placed armed guards behind the lowest parts of the wall in the exposed areas. I stationed the people to stand guard by families, armed with swords, spears, and bows.¹⁴ Then as I looked over the situation, I called together the nobles and the rest of the people and said to them, “Don’t be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!”¹⁵ When our enemies heard that we knew of their plans and that God had frustrated them, we all returned to our work on the wall. ¹⁶ But from then on, only half my men worked while the other half stood guard with spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. The leaders stationed themselves behind the people of Judah¹⁷ who were building the wall. The laborers carried on their work with one hand supporting their load and one hand holding a weapon. ¹⁸ All the builders had a sword belted to their side. The trumpeter stayed with me to sound the alarm.¹⁹ Then I explained to the nobles and officials and all the people, “The work is very spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. ²⁰ When you hear the blast of the trumpet, rush to wherever it is sounding. Then our God will fight for us!”

After looking at the internal and external causes of doubt and discouragement Nehemiah now reveals the:

CURE  

God’s Word doesn’t just deal with the disease of doubt and discouragement it shows us how to defeat doubt and discouragement. You don’t have to cope with discouragement because there is a cure. First Nehemiah reminds us to:

1. Request God’s Help vs 4-5, 9

Discouragement distracts so how does Nehemiah regain focus, where did Nehemiah go with his problem? He took his problem and wrapped it in prayer. Nehemiah didn’t give lectures to the workers, organize raiding parties against the enemies, or create propaganda campaigns to put a different spin on things. He didn’t work he worshipped, the antidote to worry is worship. Worry give priority to the problems worship gives praise to the Provider. It’s here that we come to the building block of FAITH. What are you going to fall back on in the frustrating and fearful times, your work or His? When people talked against him, he didn’t talk back, he talk to God.

2. Reorganize your life and priorities- v.13

They didn’t just pray they also prepared. Nehemiah had already organized the people in chapter 3 and they had finished half of their task. Now, a new situation had come about that required a change in organization. Nehemiah didn’t give up on the goal, he just reorganized the people and put them in their proper places. If the enemies were going to attack, they would most likely do so at the weakest places. So, Nehemiah put guards at all the vulnerable spots. This served two purposes, it discouraged the enemy and it encouraged the people. When we’re discouraged, one of the things we can do is to reorganize our priorities. You can look at your life and you can adopt a change in approach instead of becoming so discouraged that you quit. Do you have a problem in your marriage? If so, don’t bail on your spouse! Change your approach. Adopt a new attitude. Get some help. Do you have a problem in your walk with God? Don’t stop following Jesus! Reorganize your schedule so you can meet with Him on a regular basis. Don’t be overcome by discouragement. Do something about it!

3. Rely on others vs 13

Verse 13 says, “I stationed the people to stand guard by families.” Notice that Nehemiah grouped them by families. We need each other and throughout the bible, we hear the phrase “one another”. We’re told to “love one another”, “encourage one another”, “serve one another”, “pray for one another.” We need the support of our families to keep from getting discouraged. Are you discouraged, do you need to reconnect with a body of believers where you can get in a small group? Discouragement causes us to want to disconnect but relationship rejuvenate because relationship deals with the real problem:

Fatigue – Relationship brings rest – Someone to lend a hand.

Frustration – Relationship brings satisfaction – Someone who understood

Failure – Relationship brings success – Someone to lift us up when we faltered

Fear – Relationship brings Security – Had each other’s back

4. Remember who God is vs 14

How do we overcome the opposition, by remembering and returning to our Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent Father. Stop focusing on your fears and start focusing on the Father. Are you going to give priority to the problems or to His power and presence? The truth is problems don’t diminish God’s power, they just provide a pallet on which God’s power can be plainly seen. The people complained about all the rubble, but wasn’t the rubble there in the beginning? At the start of the project they were focused on God and His glory, the purpose and the priority not the problem. Now, they are rubble-focused instead of Father focused. It’s easy to become fatigue focused, frustration focused, failure focused, fear focused instead of Father focused. Remembering who is in charge recharges us.

5. Return to God’s Work Vs 15

Satan wants to sidetrack you so he can sideline you. The question is are you going to spend your energy worrying or working? Serving God is difficult and when we get discouraged it’s easy to want to walk away from the work. Peter walked away and tried to go back to fishing. Christ called him to return and reengage in God’s work. Where in your life have you walked away from the wall? God’s call is for us to return and recommit.

6. Rally Together vs 14-20

It’s a team approach where we are willing to serve and support each other. The reason the church is struggling is because we are bashing each other instead of backing each other. Now I want you to Notice the people had to call out for help, if you are struggling tell someone don’t suffer silently. What Nehemiah did was remind them to focus on the real fight, the fight for their families. Are you fighting for your families or against them? God didn’t call us to be worriers He called us to be warriors.

Nehemiah 4:8-11

⁸ They all made plans to come and fight against Jerusalem and throw us into confusion. ⁹ But we prayed to our God and guarded the city day and night to protect ourselves.¹⁰ Then the people of Judah began to complain, “The workers are getting tired, and there is so much rubble to be moved. We will never be able to build the wall by ourselves.”¹¹ Meanwhile, our enemies were saying, “Before they know what’s happening, we will swoop down on them and kill them and end their work.”

After seeing the external causes of doubt and discouragement now we are going to see the:

Internal Causes

1. Fatigue – v 10. “The workers are getting tired”

When you are physically drained, it is very easy to become discouraged at the slightest problem. The workers became fatigued and discouraged when the wall was built to half its height. Many times, when we start a new project the first half goes quickly because we’re excited about accomplishing the goal. But as we have already talked about its not just how we begin that matters but how we finish. Fatigue causes many to falter and fail. The same people who had worked with enthusiasm and built the wall to half its height are now ready to throw in the towel. Fatigue will always cause you to see the glass as half empty, but faithfulness will cause you to focus on the finish

2. Frustration – v. 10 “there is so much rubble to be moved”

They became discouraged because of the dirt and debris, they kept tripping over the trash. Is there junk in your life that keeps getting in the way of God’s work, Hebrews 12:1 challenges us to get rid of it. “…let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race marked out for us.”The trouble with rubble is that when we focus on the rubble it will always slows us down. But while they complained about the rubble wasn’t the rubble there at the beginning of the building and yet then they were able to build half the wall so why is the rubble a problem now? Because before they were focused on rebuilding now, they are focused on rubble, before they focused on the Father now, they are focused on the frustration. Are you focusing on the junk or on Jesus? As a pastor I have a choice I can focus on the frustrations or on the Fathers faithfulness. Focusing on the frustrations leads to throwing in the towel, focusing on the Father leads to walking in the truth.

3. Focus on Failure- v. 10 “We will never be able to build the wall”

Failure is a major cause of being discouraged’ The question is, how do you respond to failure? People who have learned to win in life, have learned how to get back on the horse after it has bucked them off. John Wayne said “Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.” The truth is failure can fortify because we will learn more from our failures than our successes. Learn from your failures don’t get locked up by them.

4. Fear – v. 11 “our enemies were saying, “Before they know what’s happening, we will swoop down on them and kill them and end their work.”

When we focused on the threats instead of the truth, we will fall prey to fear. Verse 12 tells us who gets afraid the quickest? The ones closest to the problem, they spend their time and energy on worry instead of the work, Worry will wear down your wall because it will cause you to stop building and believing and start bailing. Fear puts us in a frame of mind where we are not only susceptible to discouragement, but also deception.  The reality is that the enemies never did attack Jerusalem. What are your fears today? Fear of failure? Fear of rejection? Fear of health problems? Fear of being criticized? But many of our fears are unfounded. When you are discouraged you want to desert, to pack your bags and run away, the problem is that while you desert discouragement doesn’t, it will follow you. Are there any internal causes that are creating doubt and discouragement in your life? Identify them and confess them. Choose to focus on the Father instead of your frustrations, fears and failures.