BY ERIC HAMILTON
Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the king of Persia when he heard that the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem had yet to rebuild its walls and remained unprotected. This grieved Nehemiah so much that the king noticed and asked Nehemiah what was wrong. After explaining, the king gave Nehemiah a directive to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls.
This confluence of events in Nehemiah’s life is a very good illustration of what is often referred to in religious circles as a “calling.” Sometimes, people will shy away from that term, because it has been and is abused by people. They may say that God told them to do something, when in fact God did not. Sometimes, they may even justify ungodly behavior because they had a “calling.” We should be careful not to take our own personal flights of fancy for the will of God. But, so to, should we not discount that perhaps we are put in a certain place, and our hearts pricked precisely because God wants to do something with us. “Who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14b) was what Mordecai told Esther when she similarly was placed in a unique situation to do something important. Nehemiah was moved in his spirit by the plight of Jerusalem, and he was placed in a situation where he had the opportunity and means by which to do something about it. And he did it.
But just because Nehemiah was “called” to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, this does not mean that the task would be easy. Nehemiah faced many challenges and setbacks in his undertaking. There were other leaders of other regions nearby Jerusalem in the Persian Empire who did not want to see a stronger and more powerful Jerusalem compete with them. So they did various things to thwart Nehemiah’s efforts in rebuilding. They insulted the workers (Nehemiah 4:1-3), they threatened to attack the city and cause chaos (4:7-8), and eventually they even sent a letter to the king in an effort to turn him against Nehemiah (6:5-8). Another thing they tried to do was to invite Nehemiah to a conference under the pretext of talking and working things out (6:2). To this invitation to talk, Nehemiah responded:
“I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” (Nehemiah 6:3b)
We might react to this response as rude. Why shouldn’t Nehemiah be willing to just talk and work things out with these other men? Well, one thing was that Nehemiah knew that their intention was not to talk, but to get him away from Jerusalem to harm or kill him (6:2b). But even if they didn’t have such extreme intentions, they’re ultimate goal was to stop and delay Nehemiah from completing what he was called to do. Nehemiah was focused on his work and would not be thrown off course.
It is interesting to note that when Nehemiah tells his opponents that he cannot “come down” that he is speaking geographically. Jerusalem was a city on a hill, and to leave it would to physically go down. But Nehemiah may also be intentionally speaking spiritually. Nehemiah knows his work to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem is a “great work,” one he prayed fervently to God about (Nehemiah 1:4-11), and one that he now had the opportunity to finish if he stayed to task. To do anything that did not work toward that final completion would be Nehemiah descending from the great down to something less than great. He knew that in going down to the level of his adversaries, the work would stop.
Now, we might not be doing a great work like rebuilding the walls of Nehemiah, but we all have good (or perhaps even great) works that we are “called” to do. In fact, the Preacher tells us there is nothing better in this life than to enjoy it and “whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10a). Perhaps your work is your vocation, or perhaps it is raising your children in the Lord, or perhaps it is teaching, or perhaps it is something else good that God has given you a talent to do. Whatever that great thing is that you have to do, you have certainly experienced challenges to completing your work. People may try to stop you, belittle you, try to get you focused on things that ultimately don’t matter. I find this happens a lot to me on social media. How often do I spend getting worked up about something I see posted on social media, and then how much of my time does it consume? Often much more than I’d care to admit. But there is something to remember in this respect. Every time you allow someone else, or some thought, or some event distract you from the great work you are doing, you are stopping that work and condescending yourself down to a lower level.
So the next time you are tempted to be distracted from your work, be like Nehemiah. Realize that to be distracted is to stop the work that God has given you the opportunity and means to do. Do not allow yourself to be brought down from what you ought to be doing. Be like Nehemiah and complete the great work God has given you to do.
