Prayer is the Difference

Nehemiah 6:11-12 (NIV)
  But I said, "Should a man like me run away? Or should one like me go into the temple to save his life? I will not go!"
  I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had prophesied against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 

Nehemiah was trying to do the right thing as he prayed and moved forward. The right thing for Nehemiah was to rebuild the walls of the city. He understood God's calling upon his life. He wanted to rebuild the walls of the land of his ancestors. The very idea that Jerusalem was unfortified, and prime for picking did not set right with this man of God.

When any of us are on mission for the Kingdom, there will be opposition, serious opposition. When we discover something that needs to be fixed, a wrong that needs to be made right - we should expect difficulty. Consider the roadblocks as a blessing, confirmation from God that you are on the right track.

Because Nehemiah was a man of prayer, he was able to recognize deceit when it approached. He saw the message of Shemaiah as it truly was, an attempt to discredit him and cause the people to doubt their purpose and turn away from their job.

We face similar situations when we are doing God's work; when we are on mission further the Gospel.  We will face temptation; there will be pain and heartache.  We will want to quit. It is during times like this we would do well to remember Nehemiah. He understood his enemy. He expected attacks of every kind. He knew the last thing the enemy wanted is for him to be successful.

The goal of the evil one is to stop our witness; to discredit our motives and cast doubt on our work. When we are doing good, practicing our faith, we best have our canopy of prayer in place.

Nehemiah 6:10-14

Acts 13:6-13 (NIV) They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus,  who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God.  But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.

Paul and Barnabas were a team on a mission to spread the Good News of Jesus over the land. On their travels they met a Jewish sorcerer, or wizard as the Message Bible calls him. This false prophet wanted nothing to do with Paul nor the message he was bringing.  He certainly didn't want this team of evangelists to influence the procosul.  He had a good thing going and wasn't about to let these do-gooders upset his comfy lifestyle.

Even today, we run up against the same sort of roadblocks when trying to share with others, the story of God's blessings on us.  When we prepare to proclaim Jesus' life and emulate it, the evil one is always there to trip us up.

We learn to be on the lookout for evil when we are attempting to spread good. Just think about the times you were on fire for God; when He had just done something amazing in your life and you were telling everyone who would listen about it. Did something happen to turn the fire-hose on your life and extinguish those flames? Can you identify the roadblocks you had to hurdle? Did illness strike you or your loved ones?  Was there a death in the family or perhaps a financial catastrophe?

We can be certain something will happen to cause doubt or trip us up.  Satan is always trying to make us give up or give in.  But, when we have Faith, when we believe in God's good purposes, we will give it over to Him. Once we give it over to Him, it is all over for the evil one.

Acts 13:6-13