So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month of Elul, in fifty and two days. – Nehemiah 6:15
I have been taking my time reading through a couple of books of the Bible and just trying to get something out of each of them. One of those books is the book of Nehemiah. I marvel at all of the tiny nuggets of encouragement I get from this book.
Years ago, my husband taught a Sunday school series of lessons on this book to one of our Spanish congregations. We were in the middle of building another church, and he wanted to encourage the members to build something for the honor and glory of God. To be honest, I had a hard time understanding everything he taught from the book of Nehemiah, but now as I read it again, I am getting a lot out of this wonderful book.
Verse 15 in chapter 6 jumped off the page at me this morning as I was reading, and I could not get away from the fact that it took the people 52 days to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem! I was not surprised but did not think it would take that long. I do not know much about construction, but I do know that it can sometimes take longer than originally anticipated to build something from scratch, especially to repair it and to restore it back to its former state.
I was impressed and encouraged by the determination of Nehemiah found in this chapter, verses 11-13, where it says, And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in. And, lo, I perceived that God had not sent him; but that he pronounced this prophecy against me: for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. Therefore was he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and that they might have matter for an evil report, that they might reproach me.
Recently, I decided to replace the flooring on the first level of my townhome. It took me a while to make this decision, but once it was made, there was no going back! I went through the process of meeting with the contractor, then weighing all of my options, and finally setting a date to complete the project. I was excited to get it done and enjoy the finished results, but of course, nothing ever goes exactly as planned.
The first obstacle I ran into was the materials not arriving on time. Because of this, we had to push our installation date back a week. This was frustrating because I had to rearrange my work schedule and other activities which caused a little bit of upheaval in my daily routine.
The second issue we came across was discovering that there was moisture in the wood beneath the flooring under the refrigerator. Basically, it was more than wet, indicating a leak somewhere. When I was told this and saw the wood, all I could see was dollar signs in my head! In order to rule out a leak in the pipes, we decided to wait 24 hours to see if it would dry out before they could continue to install the flooring under the refrigerator. Thankfully, it dried out.
The third and final issue was the discovery that the previous owners had installed the existing flooring over pieces of plywood that were tightly nailed together with no room to breathe. So this meant that my installers would have to make cuts throughout the plywood already on the floor and re-nail it to the cement before they could even think of installing my new flooring. This also meant that they would need to sand down the entire surface before installation, resulting in machine rentals on which we had not planned. More dollar signs!
I began to repent of my decision to replace the flooring. This project had become a big headache and an inconvenience, but there was no going back because half of the existing floor had already been removed. To make a long story short, the installers were finally able to fully install the flooring. This project that should have taken one day to install ended up taking three days. However, the new flooring was beautiful and well worth all of the obstacles we encountered along the way!
With the perspective gained from my “flooring experience,” I just had to take a few minutes after reading about Nehemiah’s “wall experience” to sit back and meditate about everything that happened to him, from the moment he began his mission to the point of finishing the wall. There was so much opposition to the rebuilding of the wall, and it was frustrating for Nehemiah and his men as they strived to do what God told them to do. I am sure they must have gotten angry and downright discouraged with all of the obstacles and setbacks they encountered along the way.
I know that I have often felt that way throughout the years as I served in the ministry alongside my husband and in general during my life. Just as Nehemiah never let any of the opposition stop him as he rebuilt the wall, we too must confront any and all obstacles in our way. This was a good reminder for me that whatever God commands us to do is well worth all of the effort that we will put into it. There will be trials and opposition through it all, but the end result is worth every trial and every obstacle that we may have to face on the road to completion. We have this promise in Hebrews 10:23, Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) In Galatians 6:9, it says, And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
We need to remember that God was in it when He gave us the charge. He will be in it through everything that tries to deter us from our task. Last, He will be with us when we finish and reap the benefits of a job well done!
by April Hernandez