If we choose to obey God, no matter how trivial the obedience may seem, the enemy will resist our obedience. He will use others to distract us. He will use circumstances to dissuade us. He will use our environment to discourage us. He wants us to fail.
Nehemiah faced all three of these. Frankly, if you study all of those who followed the Lord, you find similar stories in all of their lives. For Nehemiah the enemy used Sanballat to accomplish these three d’s. Sanballat falsely accused Nehemiah – oh, you do remember that the enemy is a liar and the father of lies?
Look at Nehemiah 6:9 (here @ Bible Gateway). Here the Lord reminds us how to deal with those who wish to deflect us from following the Lord. This, by the way, was Nehemiah’s default action in the face of all that he faced. He prayed. He specifically prayed that the Lord would strengthen him.
Yesterday I spent an extensive time in my quiet time looking at passages that validate that all that we are able to do we do through His strength. Take a look at Psalm 119 (here @ Bible Gateway). Note all of the places in the psalm that David asks for or acknowledges his dependence on the Lord for anything that David understands about the Lord or His Word.
Both Nehemiah and David give us good clear examples of how we can deal with the enemy. We can’t. Apart from complete dependence on the Lord strengthening us to do so.
Nehemiah faced all three of these. Frankly, if you study all of those who followed the Lord, you find similar stories in all of their lives. For Nehemiah the enemy used Sanballat to accomplish these three d’s. Sanballat falsely accused Nehemiah – oh, you do remember that the enemy is a liar and the father of lies?
Look at Nehemiah 6:9 (here @ Bible Gateway). Here the Lord reminds us how to deal with those who wish to deflect us from following the Lord. This, by the way, was Nehemiah’s default action in the face of all that he faced. He prayed. He specifically prayed that the Lord would strengthen him.
Yesterday I spent an extensive time in my quiet time looking at passages that validate that all that we are able to do we do through His strength. Take a look at Psalm 119 (here @ Bible Gateway). Note all of the places in the psalm that David asks for or acknowledges his dependence on the Lord for anything that David understands about the Lord or His Word.
Both Nehemiah and David give us good clear examples of how we can deal with the enemy. We can’t. Apart from complete dependence on the Lord strengthening us to do so.
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