“I Am Doing a Great Work”
Stay on the Wall and Finish What God Called You to Do
Come, Follow Me—July 27–August 2 | Ezra 1; 3–7; Nehemiah 2; 4–6; 8
There are some distractions that do not look dangerous because they look quite reasonable.
They arrive as invitations, conversations, controversies, urgent notifications, unexpected opportunities, and demands for our immediate attention. They ask us to take a moment and step away from what God may have placed before us – not necessarily forever, just long enough for us to lose our concentration and focus.
This was the very strategy used against Nehemiah.
Nehemiah’s enemies did not begin by openly commanding him to abandon the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Instead, they repeatedly invited him to leave the work and meet them in the plain of Ono. Such a proposal sounded quite diplomatic; however, Nehemiah recognized the deception beneath. He was able to discern and understood that not every invitation deserved an answer. Nor every controversy deserved his attention and presence.
His response has become one of the most significant and clearest declarations of spiritual focus in scripture: “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down” (Nehemiah 6:3). Nehemiah was not boasting about his personal importance. What he did is declare the significance of the assignment – or calling – God had entrusted to him. More to the point, Nehemiah took seriously the stewardship of what God called him to accomplish.
The wall was more than stone and timber. Jerusalem’s restoration represented covenant renewal, spiritual protection, communal identity, temple worship, and the fulfillment of God’s promises.
This week’s Come Follow Me Study for the Old Testament is about more than rebuilding a temple or repairing a city wall. It is regarding how we are open and willing to recognize the work God has placed before each of us, resisting whatever pulls us away from it, and trusting that the Lord will strengthen our hands as we remain faithful and obedient to His will, purpose, and plans.
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