Road Trippin With Rachael

Nothing in life is ever easy. If anyone tells you it is, then they are lying. There are things that are easier, and there are things that are going to require less effort, but nothing is ever easy. Sometimes it looks like it is easy for others, but that’s only because we don’t know their story. We don’t know what someone else has had to struggle through to get to the point  where they are at. 

I have a classmate that I graduated from high school with, and for me it has always been hard to see where I am at and where she is at, and not be jealous of how easy it has been for her. I had to struggle to find a job. I had to make a decision to get a Master’s degree to try and make myself more hirable, and I still had to struggle to find my current job. (My current job by the way, has absolutely nothing to do with my degrees.) While she was able to get a job almost as soon as she graduated, and within two years was actually in a job in her field, before she went on to do a Master’s.

But that is only part of the story. I know the intimate details of what I have had to struggle with to get to where I am – I don’t know hers. It only looks easy because it isn’t my story. And I’m sure to some people, my story looks like it’s been easy – but that’s because they haven’t been through it with me. Nothing is ever as easy as it seems.

Sometimes we forget this, even when we are reading through the Bible. Take Noah for example. Noah built an ark. Okay – the point? He BUILT an ark! We don’t always understand the magnitude of that accomplishment – at least I don’t Boats weren’t a thing when Noah began or ended construction. They didn’t have power tools. He’d never seen what he was constructing, and the only help he had on the project was from his sons, who may or may not have thought that their dad had a few screws loose. And the ark had to be constructed in such a way that it would be able to support various animals for an indetermined amount of time. Read about it in Genesis. When you keep in mind the amount of work that went into constructing the ark, you’ll see how uneasy life was for Noah.

The Old Testament isn’t the only place that you see that life isn’t easy. If you really want to know for sure that nothing comes easy, go through the book of Acts and read about Paul. Paul was beaten, stoned, left for dead, bitten by a snake, shipwrecked, and literaly blinded by the light. Nothing in Paul’s life was ever easy.  

And yet, in both of these examples, there is something else that we see. We are able to see that even throught all the obsticles, both Noah and Paul were still doing God’s work, and they were still willing to perserve and stand up for what they believed God had called them to do. To make use of Charles H. Spurgeons magazine he published in the late nineteenth cenutury – these men carreid both a sword and a trowel.

We are never going to be totally prepared for what being in God’s will is going to require of us. As Christians, we are called to submit ourselves to the will of God, and sometimes that is going to require us to give things that we aren’t expecting. In Nehemiah 4, there are three calls to action that God demonstrates through the Jewish people as they were working on rebuilding and repairing the walls surrounding Jerusalem.

Being In God’s Will Isn’t Always Easy

When the Jews who lived nearby arrived, they said to us time and again, “Everywhere you turn, they attack us […] After I made an inspection, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the great and awe-inspiring Lord, and fight for your countrymen, your sons and daughters, your wives and homes. – Nehemiah 4:12 & 14 (CSB)

Rarely is something as it appears. We can see it all the time in books and movies. Consider for a moment the Harry Potter series. In almost every book, Harry is determined to believe that the Potions Master, Severus Snape, is behind some kind of plot to kill him or hand him over to Voldemort. And in every book, Harry is proved wrong – so wrong in fact that by the end of the series, he learns that Snape was protecting him the entire time.

Think about all the movies that come out. The main character has a problem that has to be solved. He or she has some kind of sidekick that is able to help him or her get the issue figured out, and then they all live happily ever after. Sure, there is normally some kind of plot twist that is going to make it more difficult to solve the issue that is at hand, but it always gets solved in a timely manner. The audience never really sees the struggle or the behind the scenes things that are going on to get the conclusion to come about. Or what is shown is that the actions of the main character are the only ones that matter in getting the proper outcome – never mind everyone else that is involved.

That is what we are able to see in Nehemiah chapter 4. The people have been in the land, they have been struggling to survive, to build homes for their families, and to rebuild the temple, and now beyond surviving in a new land that had to be resettled “everywhere you turn, they attack” them (verse 12). The people who had been in the land were not doing anything to help these returning exiles. Not only were they fighting to provide for their families, but they were also having to fight for their lives, and it was beginning to take a toll on their morale, and a toll on their endurance to keep moving forward.

That is something that we don’t often talk about in a realistic way. When we come to the saving knowledge of Christ, some people would lead you to believe that everything is sunshine and rainbows. It’s not. If that is the understanding that someone has when they come to Christ, then it is no wonder that we have so many people who leave the faith as soon as they are met with resistance. Jesus told the disciples that His burden was heavy. He never promised that being in His will was going to be an easy feat. In fact, being in the will of God is often much harder.

God’s will may call you to go outside of your comfort zone.

God’s will may call you to leave a job that you love and are good at.

God’s will may cause you to take a pay cut.

God’s will could mean that you leave a relationship that you want to keep.

God’s will calls you to talk to that person you can’t stand because they need to hear about Jesus.

God’s will may mean that you loose people close to you.

God’s will may call for you to lay down your life for His sake.

We are called to follow where God leads. We are called to be in and do His will, and as a Christian, when we are seeking the will of God, we are going to want to do it, not because of the accolades that we will receive, but because of our love for Him.

Being In God’s Will Requires Us To Be Prepared To Fight For What Matters

Wherever you hear the trumpet sound, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us! […] And I, my brother, my servants, and the men of the guard with me never took off our clothes, Each carried his weapon, even when washing. – Nehemiah 4:20 & 23 (CSB)

One of the greatest men in history is William Wilberforce. Wilberforce was a man who devoted his whole life once he came to Christ to the ending of the slave trade within the British Empire. At the very end of his life, he succeeded in getting a series of bills passed that restricted the transportation of slaves, and cut so far into the profit margins of those in human trafficking that the trade within the British Empire ended. This took years! It was not a 2-3 year process. It was a decades long process of getting people to see the evils of slavery, and petitioning leaders to see that the color of one’s skin did not dictate their value before God or country. In the face of the war with Napoleon, he was accused of being a French supporter – grounds to be killed – and his correspondence with Americans made him look as though he was sympathizing with the rebels who were in rebellion against His Majesty.

But through it all, William Wilberforce believed that the ending of the slave trade was a task that was worth fighting for until the very end. Mr. Wilberforce knew that this was his hill that he was willing to die on, and it was a cause that he devoted himself to until the very end of his life.

As we continue to work our way through Nehemiah, knowing when to fight is one of the themes that God brings to us. Nehemiah reminded the people that even though they were faced with the adversity of the people that surrounded them, those who wished for nothing more than to see them fail, God was still there and fighting for them. Rebuilding the wall and keeping their city safe was a task that was worth dying for. 

It was not only going to be the people who would be going into the fight, but it was also going to be God. The people were going to rally together, to show that they were a united front, and it was going to be God would lead the charge. These people knew that this was a task that was worth them fighting for. It was a task they were prepared to die for. Not only were they prepared to die for the sake of the task, but they were expecting that they were going to die for the sake of rebuilding the walls. Nehemiah tells us that him, his brother, his servants, and the men that were a part of the guard didn’t even put their weapons down to change their clothes because they were constantly expecting that they were going to be attacked by the people that were surrounding them.

This is the part of God’s will that is the Sword. As Christians, this means that we need to be prepared to engage with the world in an appropriate way. The Israelites didn’t go looking for people to fight with, they had enough enemies coming to them. In the same way, Christians don’t need to go looking for a fight. This does not mean that we do not engage in discussions that take place on the greater world stage, it doesn’t mean that we hide our faith, it doesn’t mean that we don’t prepare ourselves to give an answer when we are called upon (I Peter 3:15). It means that we don’t need to pick a fight. There is enough of that in a world that rejects God that we don’t need to go and find more to fight about. 

Being God’s Will Requires Us To Be Prepared To Work

Who were rebuilding the wall.  The laborers who carried the loads worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other. – Nehemiah 4:17 (CSB)

As we continue to work our way through chapter 4 of Nehemiah, we’ve seen two calls to action so far. One, we are called to be prepared that the Christian life is not going to be easy. There are going to be things that we encounter that will be difficult, but the relationship with God is worth it. Two, Christians are called to be prepared to fight for the things that are worth fighting for. Now we move on to the third action we are called to: we, as Christians are called to work.

In a general sense, humankind is called to work. We see this generally in society – whether it is through capitalism, socialism, or communism. Even with cultures that are more “me” centered or “others” centered, generally people agree that each person needs to be doing some form of work – when someone isn’t working, as we saw with COVID-19, it causes more stress, depression, and an increase in apathy. Humanity was created to work (Genesis 2:15), and this theme is carried through in Nehemiah 4.

As we focus on 4:17, we see an important word: Laborers. Now, I am the child of a construction worker. My father worked in construction as both a laborer and foreman up until I was a senior in high school – I am very aware of the amount of work that it takes to be a laborer. These are the men and sometimes women who are not the designers, they are not the ones who are doing the pretty seen work, they are the trades. These are the people who are doing the grunt work – and it is all work that has to be completed for everything else to be able to move forward.

These people were getting out and working. They were prepared for what might come, but they were still getting out there, and getting everything prepared for those who are going to be coming in behind them. 

In the same way, this is what the Christian life is often like. We all want to be the person who is going to have every person we share the Gospel with come to the saving knowledge of Christ. Realistically, this doesn’t happen. What does happen, is that you share with someone, I share with the same someone, and someone else shares with the same person, and eventually, hopefully, this one person’s heart has softened and they respond. We are to be the laborers in the field, and we help plant the seeds for others to do the leading. 

It takes a village to raise a child, and it also takes a church to raise up a Christian. This is the responsibility of the mature Christians. We are to share with others who don’t believe, and help to raise up the next generation of laborers who are going to be leading others to Christ.

Final Thoughts

As I sit back and think about Nehemiah 4, I’m challenged by whether or not I’m prepared to be in God’s will. I know that I am a part of it, that he is working in my life and that I am being used by him, but like most people I do wonder. These are questions that no one but you are going to be able to answer. As I spend more time in prayer, and in my Bible I feel more prepared for what God will bring my way. And yet, I know that reliance on him is the only way that I will ever really be ready for what he brings my way and your way. Being in and seeking God’s will is the only way that you can be ready for it, and then only putting your faith and trust in him to see you through is the only way that you will be able to make it through.