Read Nehemiah 6:1-15
They were scheming to harm me, 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?” –Nehemiah 6:3
Nehemiah lived a generation after Esther. Like Daniel, he had risen to a place of prominence in the royal court—he was the royal cupbearer, the person responsible for the safety of the king. And like Esther, Nehemiah felt the burden to use his position for the good of his people.
The story begins with a man named Hanani who visited Nehemiah from the land of Judea. Nehemiah was eager for news about his people, how they were doing, and Hanani gave a sad report: “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.” (1:3) It had been 150 years since the walls of Jerusalem were destroyed by the Babylonians. Nehemiah couldn’t believe they’d never been rebuilt. Without such walls, the people of Jerusalem were vulnerable to every local warlord who raided the city and took whatever they wanted.
When Nehemiah heard Hanani’s report, he sat down and wept. For the next week, he fasted and prayed, and he felt God’s call to do something about the plight of his people. Finally, he approached the king and begged permission to return to Jerusalem to help the people rebuild their walls. Because he had earned favor with the king, his request was granted. In fact, the king sent lumber with Nehemiah to help jump-start the work, soldiers to protect Nehemiah along his way, and letters to the local governors to notify them of what Nehemiah was doing.
When Nehemiah arrived at Jerusalem, he spent three days traveling around the city, talking to its people and surveying the site for its new walls. After three days, Nehemiah called the people and their leaders together and explained his purpose: “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” (2:17) The people enthusiastically responded to his call, and the work soon began.
The lords of the surrounding land—specifically two men named Sanballat & Tobiah—were less than enthusiastic about Nehemiah’s arrival. A walled Jerusalem would be a threat to their power (or at least would make a dent in their pillaging economy). From the beginning, they attempted to sabotage the work. First they sent spies to spread rumors and to discourage the people from working. Then they sent bands of soldiers to attack the workers, but Nehemiah split his men—half to build the wall, and half to protect them while they built.
The wall was nearly complete—only the gates remained—when Sanballat and Tobiah sent a request to meet and make peace with Nehemiah. Nehemiah, though, knew their offer of peace was not genuine—indeed, Sanballat & Tobiah planned to kill him. So Nehemiah sent word back: “I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down.” Four more times Sanballat and Tobiah sent messengers entreating Nehemiah to parley with them. Four more times Nehemiah sent back the same word: “I am doing a great work and cannot come down.”
The closer Nehemiah got to finishing the walls, the more desperate their ploys became. They convinced a close friend of Nehemiah’s to warn him that his life was threatened. They sent a rumor to the King of Persia that Nehemiah planned to rebel against him and set himself up as King of Judea. No matter what they did, Nehemiah did not stop the work. His response was always the same: I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down. The sixth chapter concludes by recording the completion of the Jerusalem wall—in only 52 days!
Pastor Andy Stanley writes that, for each of us, there is one thing that needs our greatest attention. One thing that is the most important thing in our life right now. One thing, that if we accomplished nothing else in the next year of our lives, one thing that would make the biggest difference. Many of us know deep down in our hearts that there is “one thing” that needs our attention. The problem is that one thing is hard. If it were easy, we’d already have done it. And because it is hard, we allow other things to take priority. We get distracted. We neglect the “one thing” that is truly necessary.
So Andy suggests that we brand Nehemiah’s words into our hearts. Whether we’re kicking a bad habit, repairing a broken relationship, getting out of a toxic relationship, taking care of our physical health, getting our finances in order, being present with our children—whatever that “one thing” might be that is most important in our lives, we have to keep saying to the competing demands that distract us: “I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down.” No other work is more important than what I am doing right now.
To bring this back to our “threshold” metaphor: there were many doors that Nehemiah could’ve walked through. Some of those were traps, but some of them may have felt just as important or urgent as the building of Jerusalem’s walls—they were screaming out for his attention! But Nehemiah understood that only ONE door was the most important—only one would become his life’s work. And Nehemiah had the wisdom and determination to give himself wholeheartedly to the “great work” to which God had called him.
What is the “one thing” that is most important in your life at this moment? What competing demands are distracting you and sabotaging your progress in this area? How can you better train your attention fully upon the “great work” that is needed in your life right now?
O God, lay upon my heart the “one thing” that needs my best and full attention right now. Quiet the distractions that pull me away. Fix my focus upon the task that You have placed before me in this season of life. May I not “come down” from this work until it is complete. Amen.