The nation of Israel is a far cry from where it was when God delivered them from Egypt. It is a far cry from when Joshua led then into the promise land. It is a far cry from when King Saul, King David, and King Solomon ruled as kings. Matter of fact, the nation has been divided, defeated and frankly embarrassed by other nations. Then along comes Nehemiah.
Nehemiah is wanting to rebuild. He is wanting to start over. He is wanting to press the reset button and wanting to give new hope to his nation.
We have all been there. We have all wanted to press the reset button in our lives. I know I have. We have all had the divided, defeated, and embarrassed moment in our lives, and then we finally turn back to God for help. But, when we finally get the strength to pick ourselves up and start again some one is there to ridicule us.
At the end of the chapter these guys named Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab, begin mocking Nehemiah's efforts. These men continue to plot against him and ridicule him throughout the book. Nehemiah never bats an eye and presses forward. These 3 men's efforts were in vein throughout the book of Nehemiah, and the walls were rebuilt, and many of God's chosen nation returned to Jerusalem and repented.
When you fall in your spiritual journey you can be guaranteed you will have people ridicule you and mock you. When God finally helps you back up from your fall, you can bet they will be there to laugh at you again. They will hope you fall down again, but just as Nehemiah did, you must keep moving forward and have the courage to allow God to rebuild you.
John
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