It's an old cliché used by many, "I shouldn't have gotten out of bed this morning." Have you ever used it? My family has. Could it be descriptive of those kinds of days when things were just not going well? Obstacles, problems, difficulties seemed to be nearly everywhere you turned. Perhaps things had been going quite well, or at least you thought they had until the project was already well underway. While this may be descriptive of some of those days for us, I believe the same could be said of Nehemiah and the situation described in chapter 4. Obstacles seemed to be everywhere. First obstacles Without and then, Obstacles Within.

Some years ago Chuck Swindoll told of a black man who was like an adopted uncle to him. One day this dear man said, "Charlie, one thing you'll learn about life when you grow up is, it's so daily."

Recall the event from chapter two in which Nehemiah had been challenging the people of Jerusalem. With Godly enthusiasm they quickly began the task the Lord gave them to do. I am looking forward to seeing your Godly enthusiasm as you embark upon new and exciting ministries for the Lord. I would love to have you tell me about the personal and family challenges God lays on your hearts. I am hoping that many of you commit to being involved in 40 Days of Community and other ministry opportunities God lays on your hearts.

In chapter three we see the people of Jerusalem diligently working as a team and making considerable progress. I invite you to read through that chapter without getting bogged down with the pronunciation of the many names. It is interesting to see the various groups, many by families, taking a section of the wall to rebuild as their project. But God was in this and with the oversight of Nehemiah their work was coordinated as a whole.

Then, after much work is done obstacles brought about a work slowdown.

Obstacles

I. Without

Probably nearly everything worth doing will face some obstacles, some opposition to test our faith and fortitude. Such obstacles may cause us to reexamine our motivation and procedures.

I recall a friend and neighbor, a retired man who was building his own home several years ago. He had a little volunteer help, but did the majority of the work himself. One of the few things for which he hired a professional was to do pour his basement foundation. While many professional contractors would certainly do a fine job, the one he brought in did extremely poor work. I don't think I would have paid the company until they had corrected their mistakes. For weeks this patient man chiseled and shimmed so that his house would be level, because the top of his foundation was not. What obstacles he faced.

After the people of Jerusalem really get going on their God inspired building project they face obstacles form without - some obstacles that we had a hint about before the work was begun - even before Nehemiah went to inspect the ruins of Jerusalem. When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah heard that Nehemiah was concerned about the well being of the people of Jerusalem he was displeased. Someone is probably displeased whenever you and I are willing to risk following the leading of God's Spirit.

The opposition from the outside reared it's ugly head again when the Israelites enthusiastically endorsed this work of God and set their minds, hearts, and hands to it. Then Geshem, the Arab, joined Sanballat and Tobiah in mocking and despising them. Earlier Nehemiah had answered "The God of heaven will give us success, therefore, we His servants will arise and build, but you have no portion, right, or memorial in Jerusalem.

Then as the work neared the half way point the obstacles arise again. Sanballat became very furious and very angry and mocked the Jews. (Read the questions of verse 2)

We see that Tobiah gets back into the act also. (Verse 3)

Nehemiah called on the Lord and as the opposition conspired to fight, the Jews set up a guard as they continued to work. We too, must continue the work God has given us - keeping guard, in spite of the obstacles without. There is opposition to what God would have us do - sometimes by family members who do not share our faith in Christ- and from society.

Paul tells us in Romans 12:2, "Don't let the world squeeze you into its own mold, but let God remake you so that your whole attitude of mind is changed. Thus you will prove in practice that the will of God is good, acceptable to him and perfect.

As devastating as they may be - obstacles without are not the only ones we face.

We also face obstacles

II. Within

Satan is involved in the obstacles without and within. These potentially debilitating obstacles may be within the Christian church and within ourselves. It seems that we can be more easily hurt within the faith community. How sad, but it is true.

We read in Nehemiah 4:10, "Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, 'The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.'" Their leader challenged them to see the rubble, the ruins, the need to get involved in. At the same time He reminded them of God's help. The Lord would be with them in this task for His glory. However, in the weeks ahead, their focus shifted from the Lord to the rubble. While they had to be made aware of the ruins they were to direct their gaze to God who could use them to transform rubble to something useful.

It might be helpful for us to compare this battle for Christ to front and rear lines in an armed forces battle, an analogy used by a speaker at a Christian conference. Did you know that the guys on the front lines usually don't complain much. They are too busy fighting the enemy. Since it is a matter of life and death, the soldiers tend to work together, really taking their objectives and strategy seriously. Little things like the taste of the food doesn't matter much as long as you are still alive to eat.

However, a few miles behind the front lines there is often a dramatic change in attitudes. Behind the lines griping is often a way of life. Soldiers complain about nearly everything, the weather, the food, the officers, you name it.

This is often the case in the church. Christians involved in front line ministries, really dealing with peoples lives over issues of salvation, repentance, spiritual growth, and deepening the level of fellowship with our Lord and other believers are not likely to be griping and complaining. A pastor wrote, People in the midst of the battle develop the healthiest attitudes. Being in the battle isn't necessarily fun or even always desirable to the combatant, but it certainly carries more meaning than frittering away time and talent on impersonal needs."

However, often persons behind the lines in the local church are griping much of the time.

An experienced pastor I met a few years ago wrote: "You do not usually have to know pastors very long before they begin to share that they live with a constant flow of complaining and griping. It is almost taken for granted that beneath the surface in the local church there are rumblings. The pastor's preaching isn't good enough; the nursery isn't' taking proper care of the babies; the carpet is the wrong color; so and so deserves to sing more solos. Churches are riddled with people who have clashed over some issue in the past. In many cases there are still hurt feelings long after what they wrangled about has become a dead issue."

Along with repentance and reconciliation within the church community an ongoing solution to such back biting and complaining is to get so many people in the church on the front lines serving Jesus Christ in various significant ministries that they realize day by day how fulfilling such ministries can be and how trivial most issues about which some complain about really are.

Yes, Nehemiah faced obstacles without and within, and so do we in our church. While we need to be aware of the rubble, the ruin that I talked about last week, our ongoing focus must be on God gazing, choosing intimacy with Jesus Christ above all else and wanting others to have such intimacy too.

Conclusion: God Gazing

Frank Tillapaugh wrote: "I'm sure life has a way of dumping as much rubble on your turf as it does mine. What will it do for you? Are you committed to God gazing or rubble gazing? Maybe its time for you to stop wanting to grow closer to your Lord and to start deciding to do so, by having a quality daily devotional time with Him. After all, realizing your full potential for ministry depends on it!"

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