When word came to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left in it—though up to that time I had not set the doors in the gates— 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.”
But they were scheming to harm me; 3 so I sent messengers to them with this reply: “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?” 4 Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave them the same answer. (Nehemiah 6:1-4)
Thoughts: Nehemiah was focused on the work. He was asked to leave and answer his naysayers. They tried to make it palatable by meeting in a neutral place. But Nehemiah knew it was a trap- a trick to make his stop the work, or capture him as the leader.
For any work to be completed, we need to focus on the goal. Anything we do to glorify God- any building project- any goal. The best goal is heaven itself- and drawing closer to God. Paul said it like this, "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead- I press on to the goal to win the prize." So let us not be distracted by negative stuff- but focus on what God wants us to do.
Prayer: Help me, Lord, to focus on the calling you have given me.
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