Father God, thank you so much for another night to study your word. Thank you for what a blessing Ezra and Nehemiah have been. We shouldn’t be surprised, but I’m so surprised and I’ve loved it so much. So God, tonight as we dig in and we start to look at the courage and the adversity that the Hebrews were dealing with, help us to put ourselves into the story and understand the way that we can respond more like you. God, thank you for this time. Bless us as we dig in. We ask all this in your name. Amen.
Okay, so on your handouts, which I had a crisis of conscience because as I’m printing them back on the copier, I’m like, it reminds you, I told you this, that color copies cost 7 times as much as black and white. And I’m like, oh, but everyone hates the black and white ones. No, we don’t. Oh, okay. Well, then we’ll go black and white next week. We’re used to them. Oh, OK. I feel better now. I felt really like I felt bad. I’m like, oh, like they really like the color ones. OK, well, we’ll save money next week. This week we spend an extra 12 cents. So there’s there’s this week is going to be good.
If you if you happen to read ahead, chapter 3 is a lot of details. Chapter 4 is much more of the story. So we will spend, we’re still going to dig into 3 a little, but I’m going to try to spend more time on Chapter 4, where that’s more of the meat of the narrative story is. But the initial questions there, they’re up on the top of the page. I want to kind of put in our heads before we start reading.
When someone mocks or discourages something you’re trying to do for the Lord, what do you do first? Do you defend yourself? Do you quit? Or do you pray? And we’ll come back to that question.
And then the second part of that is where in your life, your family, or your church do you feel worn down, like the rubble is endless and your strength is failing? Like, I teach at a high school. I feel that way twice a week. But we have to… Two days a week? Just 2 days a week. Most of the days are better. So do you only work 2 days a week? Oh, do I only work 2 days a week? Oh, no. No, I work all the days, but…
I’m usually in like a good place on Monday. Tuesday’s okay. Wednesday. Wednesdays are just long like our school does block days on Tuesday, Thursday, so you have all your long classes where you’re just with it’s nice in some ways but it’s a lot of togetherness. Sometimes it’s nice when the class is 45 minutes and then they they move along. Um, but by usually like Wednesday, Thursday, I’m kind of like, oof. And then you get to Friday, and it kind of, everyone’s mood changes again. So you just never know with high schoolers. But, oh, Chris, there’s papers there, too.
So those are questions just to put in your mind as we start to read. Because what we’re looking at in Chapter 3 and 4 of Nehemiah is we’re looking into the story where they’re actually working on rebuilding the wall. So there’s a lot going on. There’s a lot of people working together. This is what, when we think about Nehemiah getting used as like good leadership seminar material, this tends to be some of where that comes from of working together and different roles and jobs.
But what’s important is that in their struggle and in some of the weariness they experience and some of the, what’s the word, not conflict, antagonization by enemies around them, they’re willing to stand firm. They acknowledge it and they seek the Lord instead. So it’s a really neat way for us to understand this. So let’s go ahead and read Nehemiah Chapter 3. And this is going to be one of those chapters where there are a lot of names. Then I am probably going to do a very poor job. Some of them I might even skip. We’ll just see what we can do. There’s a lot of names.
Chapter 3, verse 1. “The high priest, Eliashab, and his fellow priests began rebuilding the sheep gate. They dedicated it and installed its doors. After building the wall to the tower of the Hundred and tower of Hananel, they dedicated it. The men of Jericho built next to Eliashab, and next to them, the Zacher, son of Imri, built it.”
The sons of Hasenah built the fish gate. They built it with beams and installed its doors, bolts, and bars. Next to them, Merimoth, son of Uriah, son of Hakaz, made repairs. Beside them, Meshelem, son of Berechiah, son of Meshezabel, made repairs. Next to them, Zadok, son of Banna, made repairs. Beside them, the Tekoites made repairs, but their nobles did not lift a finger to help their supervisors.”
Verse 6, “Jehoiada, son of Piash, I think, and Meshelem, son of Beshodiah, repaired the old gate. They built the beams and installed the doors, the bolts, and the bars.”
We can pause there for now. The rest of this chapter is the same rundown of information. I hate not reading it because these people are important, and we’re going to talk about them later. But I also know that it will… It is really hard to read. So the same thing is happening. And then we get down toward… Let’s see.
Verse 26. “And the temple servants living on Ophel made repairs opposite the water gate toward the east and the tower that juts out. Next to him, the Techoites made repairs to another section from a point opposite the great tower that juts out as far as the wall of Ophel. Then it goes on, talks about the priest and the horse gate. Then it goes back and makes repairs in separate places. Then it comes back and it actually lists out.
And I had a list somewhere that I think might be in my notes of all the different people, but we see some of them in verse 31 on. It says, one of the goldsmiths made repairs to the house of the temple servants and merchants opposite the inspection gate and as far as the upstairs room in the corner. And the goldsmiths and merchants made repairs on the upstairs room.
So there’s a lot of different roles that get shown. I’m going to find out my notes in a minute. But all of these people are very ordinary people. None of them are like construction pros. None of them are people that this is their go-to job. They’re all normal people who have regular jobs, and they step in and do the work. So when we look at all of this, there’s a lot that is noteworthy. Let me see if I can find my list. Here we go.
The variety, this was the variety. There were priests, there were Levites, there were goldsmiths, perfumers, merchants, rulers, whole families, and Shalom’s daughters. So all of these jobs are very different in real life, but yet they all come together and they’re all doing the work that they’ve been called to.
There was a neat noteworthy thing, and I did not know this until, thank goodness for good commentaries, when it talks at the very beginning about about Eliashab or Eliashib. I think Eliashib. They start on rebuilding the Sheep Gate. Well, I’ve been to Jerusalem, and I know that there’s a few of the gates, and they’re neat, and they’re not original. I think from the 1500s. But nevertheless, the sheep gate is the gate that the sacrifices would actually come through. So it’s a neat little noteworthy tidbit.
The gate they started with rebuilding was the gate that the sacrifices would be coming through because that mattered. Like this is where we need to begin because this is the gate that we want to make sure that we’re beginning with where we worship, the one that’s most dear and sacred to us, which is very cool. I think I read somewhere rebuilding started at the place of worship, which is neat. It’s a neat thought that that was what they did.
But what’s really neat, and I mentioned this before, but there’s all these neat moments of imperfect people that God’s using. They’re ordinary. I feel ordinary most of the time. So maybe sometimes less than ordinary, but these are regular people like us. They’re not, they’re not the very best craftsmen. They have not brought in those folks. Um, and it’s really neat that we continually see this refrain over and I know it didn’t count. I should have counted. Now I’m curious, um, where it said next to him, like there’s all these moments where it’s, you know, they were, let’s see, I flipped the page on accident. Um, They built it. And next to them, Merimoth, son of, beside them, Meshulam. Next to him, Zadok. Beside them.
I mean, like, it’s back and forth of this over and over and over again. I get the impression these are people that are really locking arms. And they are really doing the work. And they’re doing it together, side by side. It’s ugly. It’s hard. But they’re doing it. And it’s really neat. There are several cool things. But one of the ones that’s worth noting, it’s in verse 27. 27. Oh, it mentions the Ticoites in 27. It also mentions them in five.
Here it is. Beside them, the Ticoites made repairs, but their nobles did not lift a finger to help their supervisors, which is just noteworthy. We’ll come back to it a little bit, but it’s noteworthy that they opted out of helping. So.
We see this, and I wrote in the notes to help us kind of keep tabs. We’ve got the first 12 verses. The work begins at the sheep gate with priests, rulers, craftsmen, and even daughters are taking up sections of the wall. And then the second half, which I guess is really two-thirds, the work then moves around the city, and they start listing out gate by gate all of the labor that happens, and everyone’s locking arms except for the one group, which was the nobles of the Tekoites who were unwilling to take part.
So the first question there, Nehemiah 3, question A, I guess. Who takes part in the work? I mentioned this, but who are the people we see working here? Yeah. I mean, it’s like important, not important. Like, even perfumers. I don’t know any perfumers, but I just have a feeling that construction’s not their gift. You know, they do different things, but yet they’re there doing the work right alongside everyone else.
Think about… I think that the Coite thing is interesting. The nobles in verse 5 that says… Beside them the Tekoites may repair, but their nobles do not lift a finger. One of the commentaries I read used the word stooping. Like they did not stoop to partake. Like it was beneath them in their minds. Do you ever have to do things that feel like you’re stooping? Have you ever felt that way before? Like this is almost beneath me? Okay, good. Good, it’s not just me. You know, it’s…
I will be totally honest, and it’s not a great example, but it comes to mind because it happened today. One of my jobs at school, aside from department stuff and teaching, is running the coffee house at school. It’s one of the 2 entrepreneurship classes that we’ve built that the kids actually run everything, marketing, operations, finance. They pay the bills. They place orders. It’s very cool. It wears me out because it’s just anything that’s dynamic. You’re running a real business, but it’s also a class.
Well, every once in a while, they just get understaffed. They’re high school kids. They have practice, so they have a doctor’s appointment. They’re busy. So then I’m always near. After the first month, I kind of back off and let them kind of take over and run things. And I’m near if they need moral support. But there’s just some days, and Wednesdays are usually one of them, where they’re short-staffed and they need me to swoop in and help make drinks, which is fine. I enjoy it.
But there’s that tiniest tinge of weirdness when another staff member, like adult staff, comes to get a drink. And they’re like a little, like, I’ve been waiting. And you’re like, did you not see the 45 drinks we just made in like 30 minutes? Like, that was amazing. And they act a little, and they’re tired, too. That’s the end of the day. I mean, teaching is a lot. But it always is that little, like, I had to remind myself, I’m like, I’m not above doing this either. And it’s OK.
It’s silly, but, like, it’s easy to sometimes feel a little like, hey, I am also a teacher. Simmer down, which wouldn’t probably go over well. Yeah, actually, when I was washing my hands, I was like, you know, I should let her be the, you know, chief for the day. But that’s okay.
But this is a situation where I think it’s a great, it’s a very short moment in verse 5 where the Chicoites, their nobles, are just mentioned for not lifting a finger to help, that they wouldn’t stoop to help. It’s a good charge. It’s a good challenge. It’s a good attitude check. There’s always going to be something we feel like that’s kind of beneath us. That doesn’t mean we don’t do it anyway.
I still remember, thank God for him, my first boss. I remember his name. I probably still have it in my phone. I worked at Best Buy once in high school for my marketing class. That was my living internship, and it was fun. And I sold cameras back in the olden days when we were still selling film, but digital was becoming a thing, which is just hard to fathom now, because now no one uses cameras. They just use their phones, which makes the camera guy in me sad.
But I remember working at Best Buy, and I was 16. I was like low man in the totem pole. I remember Jeff was my manager, and Jeff would not take his lunch break until all of his team had taken his lunch break. And it’s just, I mean, he was probably in his 30s. He didn’t have to do that for all of us that were high school, college age, but he did. And it’s still, I mean, it’s been a long time. 25 years, and I still remember that. Because he wasn’t too good to treat his people well. I love it.
So I think in this moment, it’s a good reminder because we see the dichotomy, the contrast of those who weren’t willing to lift a finger and those who were willing to lock arms and say, it doesn’t matter who I am and how important or how important I’m not. I’m here. I’m here for it. But I think Jesus would have stopped like that. I know. I know. You know?
I’m glad he went there because I think that whole section points straight to Jesus. He stooped. If he hadn’t stooped, we wouldn’t be here. We wouldn’t be in good standing. We wouldn’t be in good standing, yeah. I love it because I think the whole thing, it points back to how important it is. God remembers the little things. Even when the world doesn’t remember the little things. Yeah.
Terry. My job on the farm was to milk the cow, so I had to stoop real low. Literally. I’m always really proud of, like, for all of the quirky things that my high schoolers do that I don’t love. My kids that are in entrepreneurship, the ones that run Coffee House and run our marketing company, I’m really proud of them. A kid who is a star soccer player, all the fancy classes, comes from a great family, and he’s willing to show up early and mop because the kids the night before forgot. There’s really not much that makes your heart more proud. Because stooping is enormously impressive. Because it does set us apart. Not being above things.
And again, we serve a God that he remembers even when the world forgets. Most of those little things the world does forget. But God does remember. Where did that little thing go? So my Sunday school class knows this. I have a really bad habit, but I find it endearing. So bad, but endearing. In the quarterly book, or here apparently, I will just fill my page with a million little notes and thoughts. It’s psychotic. So every once in a while, if you catch me pausing by doing this, it’s my own fault. It’s only me.
So anyway, the second question I wanted to pause on, though, before we move too far. It says, and I’m going to add to this question even though I wrote it. Do I want to serve where God has placed me or only where I will be noticed? Before you answer, I think every Christian would want to answer it the first half. Of course I want to serve where God’s placed me. Of course. Yes, I’m a God. But how do we discern that? How do we really know our own hearts well? And how do we catch ourselves?
I think contentment is really hard. I don’t know if it’s hard for you, but I think contentment is really hard. And sometimes with really stupid things. I don’t long for a new car. I like my old car. It’s paid off. That doesn’t do anything for me. I’m so annoyed how expensive cars are now. I hope it lasts forever. It won’t. Knock on wood. But I tend to buy too many books for hiking stuff. And it’s amazing how I can look at all the neat things and be like, you know, but if I had that book, Or like, you know, my version’s the paperback. It was silly. It’s still discontentment, even when it’s a book. And that’s an easy thing to say. You can justify that real well.
But contentment is hard. So when we think about serving where God’s placed us, being content is always going to be a challenge for a human heart, even when it’s things that we’re serving. And sometimes… And I think often, and I know people in this room who I won’t necessarily call out, they are very good at serving, and no one ever knows. And that’s a blessing. But I know there are people, not necessarily here, but we’ve all encountered, and I think we’re all prone to this on some level, it’s really nice to be thanked. It’s really nice to be noticed. It’s really nice to have, like, and there’s nothing wrong with it. Until it becomes a frustration because we don’t get it.
Yeah, Terry. One of the things I read just recently was 7 things that are happening that are destroying the church in America. One of them was the pastor seeking the praise of man instead of the praise of God. Yeah. I mean, I don’t know if I wrote it here or later in the notes. No one will ever know because it’s so small. I really shouldn’t use that pen. It is. It’s true. Because…
I have such a mixed feeling about this. I don’t really like social media. I think it’s probably caused more harm than good. That said, I can also look at it and go, if you take a, this isn’t a religious thing, an agnostic view to it, and just say, I don’t have a big opinion. It’s a tool. It can be used really good. It can be used really bad. I mean, a hammer. A hammer can build a house. It can repair things. Or it can break a toe or break a window. I mean, it’s a tool. Like, it can be good or bad. And social media probably is the same on some level.
That said, I can’t imagine when I see, like, you know, like the short little videos pop up of pastors on Facebook or whatever. Like, I can’t imagine how hard it must be for the pastor on the other end who has had 20 million people share his video or comment, how hard it must be to keep a humble heart. I mean, you have like weird celebrity status, which is such a delicate thing. And that our hearts are just prone to find idols. And our own glory and praise or the praise of others can be an idol. Just because it’s nice to have a compliment doesn’t mean it can’t be an idol.
What do you mean? No. If I just challenge this just a little bit. No, this is what I want. Love to hear the thoughts of the room. So when you say, you know, or only to be noticed. So using social media as an example. I use it on the other end of when I’m very, very strategic and very choosy about what I do post. And if there is a moment that I feel like I could share that is God-driven, clearly points to God. And I do think it can be used in a manner. And not just social media. To be like, be noticed, like, Again, looking to see what you guys think of me, I’m just thinking on the long lines, but I am looking to be noticed as someone different and out there purposely. So when I’m down there working with the children, I’m looking to be noticed and animated. You know what I mean? Not for my own glory. And that’s the difference.
Yes. That’s it. But being noticed is important to me because I want to be noticed for being different so I can be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Amen. And I think that’s the important caveat of how it can be a great thing. That’s why it’s like, I look at it and go, ugh, you caused more bad than good. But you’re also just a tool, which means it can be used for really good.
I post this lesson every week on Facebook. Like, I mean, two people see it. But maybe those are the 2 people that God needs to see it. Like, you know, and I know, like, if you went to my Facebook, I call it FacePage. I just hate calling it by its real name. If you went to my Facebook, it’s basically just that. I mean, it’s pretty boring. But I just figure, you know, there are people I know who live far away who, like, have stumbled on it. They’re like, that’s prompted really good gospel conversations. So it is a delicate balance. And I think it is enormously hard.
And that’s where, like, the discernment factor has to be up so high that I don’t accidentally start seeking, like, you know, if heaven forbid or heaven willing, if one of my, like, posts on Facebook of my lessons took off, which I’d be shocked. Again, if 100 people shared it and were liking, commenting, and asking good gospel, it would still be hard not to be like, ooh, good job, Brian. Just because I’m human, which is why it’s so good. I mean, this is where a community is so beneficial. Because then if you see it slip into somebody, I would hope every one of you would come to me and be like, stop it.
You would need it, because that’s what good biblical community is meant for, is to keep each other focused on the cross, not on… myself, but I like that. That’s a really good word. We had a very good friend that when everybody looked at her, you would say she would give the shirt off her back. Yeah. But after about 10 to 20 years of friendship, you figured out that the only time she gave her shirt off the back was when it benefited, when someone was watching her. You know, she got the glory of doing that. And so it was, yeah, so it was very, like, oh. And that’s where it was completely different. When you’re not doing it for the glory, then… But finding that balance, you’re absolutely right. And that’s where accountability partners and community, like you said, is just so important.
Yeah, I’ll say it again. You have all open invitation. If you see something questionable on the Facebook page, say something. You have the invite. And as a Christian culture, we’ve gotten really uncomfortable asking people hard questions because we don’t like it. You can ask me hard questions. I will not be offended. I might be initially like, ugh, but I promise in the end I will be thankful because that’s what community is there for. And if we’re not seeking to be more like Jesus, then what are we doing? Right. Yeah. Yeah.
Those are the stories that give you some encouragement and hope for the road. There’s a company we used to take kids on a field trip to down in the valley. Cambridge Engineering and they do they do like the massive HVACs like on top of warehouses so it’s not like home air conditioners it’s like going from 90 degrees to 70 in a big warehouse kind of thing or 180 to you know 100 and the owner his kids went to Westminster his youngest just graduated last year and they don’t have a cleaning crew with their business like there’s not a janitorial staff at this company because everyone from the owner CEO down to the welder, everyone takes turns cleaning toilets, like the entire company. And it’s so cool for the kids to hear that because the owner of the company lives in Huntley. Huntley over there by, you know, it’s like Lindbergh and 40. There are no houses less than 3 or 4 million dollars. I mean, these are like the old money folks. And he is cleaning the toilets in his own business. And it’s so neat because the kids know who he is enough and they know that they’re like, oh, like his kids have nice stuff.
And then they learn, oh, wow, like, he does that? I love it. Every time, because he’s not too great to remember how important it is just to serve, which is pretty neat. And, Brian, one more. Yeah. I think not to overlook the situation is just, like, looking at Jesus and the times when he would perform a miracle and the people he would tell, go tell, and the people that he would say, don’t tell anyone. And it’s about the audience and who’s there and, like, what would be done with that information. Because there was… there was always the potential for, if it was to help people understand the kingdom, it seemed that he was more okay. And if it was, they’re just going to chase the miracles, do not, which is an interesting thought. I love that.
So the last thing I’ll say before we look at the second half of chapter 3 is, the question is, do I begin my work for the Lord with worship, or do I begin it in my own strength? I think as I was looking at it later, I rephrased it. Do we labor from grace or do we labor for grace? Do we labor from grace or for it? Are we doing these things out of a deep fear and awe of the Lord? Or are we doing these things to gain approval from? Maybe more practically, like I’ve heard it said before, do we… Do we pray before we decide something, or do we pray after we decide something? Are we seeking the Lord? I don’t know if I’m saying it right. I’ve heard it said before. I’ve heard it with blessing, I think. Do we ask for God’s blessing before we discuss and think, or do we ask for God’s blessing on what we’ve done? Um, and it’s, it’s nuanced. It’s so close, but it matters a lot because the world we live in is very quick to, I’ll figure out all the things. And then we ask God to kind of bless it after the math or after the fact. And the kingdom of God is we want to labor from a place of a deep abiding grace versus trying to gain it on our own. Um,
So looking at the questions in the second half there, the phrase next to him keeps coming up. How does that describe the work that we see happen? It says it a lot of times, either next to him or beside. It’s just a continual line of people. It’s so cool because it’s hard to imagine. In Scouts growing up, we used to have to, if we camped, when we camped, um before we could leave and pack up the campsite like everything was loaded but we had to all do our big line and everyone walked in one big line across the field or wherever to make sure we you know left it better than we found it um which i’m not scouts anymore i’m old now but like i hope so that was really cool like i assume they still do it i hope they do because it’s kind of rare to see people like unified in a task and just moving forward um anyway but
Think about this practically, too. It says next to him over and over again, and it gives us this idea that they are just side by side, in the thick of it, completely dedicated, all in it. Think about who’s next to you, like in life now. Maybe it’s family or friends or church or work or neighbors. Think about the things that, in your work, that you depend on them for. It is really hard to be a lone wolf. It’s just hard, because you’re alone. But I can look at even my schoolwork, my work here, family. So many things are just better serving side by side with others. It’s so much better. My current co-teacher, her name’s Nicole. She used to own a place called The Cupcakery downtown. They had a few locations, but the main one was Central West End.
Then after her first daughter was adopted, she stepped back, sold her half of the business and went into interior design so she could kind of do it on her timetable. And so she’s owned multiple businesses. I mean, she’s very capable. The things that we’ve been able to do together have been awesome because you have someone else who’s a little crazy and definitely ADHD. So like you can just keep compounding and, and, half the time, I actually, the app I use to record lessons, if we start talking about something, I’m like, hang on, hang on, we’ve got to record it. Because there’s no way that either of us will remember half of the ideas that we came up with. Most of you know me well enough now. That’s fair. But I have learned how much better and more we’re able to do together than I could by myself before. The old teacher she replaced, he was there for a paycheck. That was his thing, which is fine.
Um, but now like we can do awesome stuff. Like she, I’d always wanted to start this women in business seminar. Well, I’m not a woman. So me starting a women in business seminar is weird. Um, you know, I had this great lady who was a, um, a former Westminster mom and she had retired and she wanted to help with it. But like I could, I mean, I could help her like email the girls, but that was about all I could do. Nicole comes along and we, you know, we tell Nicole like, Hey, this has been in the works. We would, and she is just, run with it. And it’s amazing because being able to work side by side with people who were in it together as hard as you are changes things. It’s really fun. And hopefully, I mean, I think most people have at some point had a co-worker or a family member, someone that they’re just like, this makes it better. At least I hope we have. Give you encouragement and support. Yes. And go the other way. Yeah, it can.
And there were some… Bleak is too strong. There were some very less encouraging years, where you feel like you’re just kind of chipping away by yourself. And it takes a lot longer to chip away by yourself than with someone who can bounce things off. Question B is an easy one, but I love it. What’s it look like to work zealously on something that no one will praise? Have you ever had to do that? Yeah, keeping it a secret. I mean, have you ever had a role or a job or a thing that you knew you had to do, but you knew you couldn’t tell anybody about it?
Or maybe just no one knew. It was a hidden thing. Have you ever heard the phrase humble brag? I don’t like it. I think it’s a bummer of a phrase. But it’s where people will like, they’re bragging. But they kind of do it in a gentle, like, I’m not patting myself on the back, but I’m patting myself on the back. And it’s just, you don’t even always catch it sometimes. And we’re all guilty of it. We’re human beings. But Colossians came to my mind, Colossians 3.23, where it says, whatever you do, do it from the heart as something done for the Lord and not for people. Which is hard. But I will say… having tried to live both, that one is a lot more fulfilling. The Colossians 3.23, a lot more fulfilling.
Because then when I’ve worked my tail off on something really dumb for school that no one cares about, I’m like, it’s okay. I was doing it for the Lord. My job is to be faithful. It is not a big deal. That’s hard to do, though, in the world. Church, that’s a little more normal. But the world around us, this is not the way of the world. The way of the world likes to kind of get the applause and the praise for the things we do and say. Question C, and then we have to pivot pretty quick. I put down, where might pride or comfort make you hold back from serving others? The Tekoans, are the Tekoans, is that the right word? Um. Tekoites. The Tekoites, they were the example of the pride. They were too good to lower themselves to stoop and serve.
That might not be us. But think about the comfort. Maybe it just costs me too much. That should make us feel a little uncomfortable. I’m certain there have been times where I know there’s a need and you’re like, I need a slow day. I need to not be busy today. I need a break. And yes, sometimes we do. But it’s important to at least think in those moments of, is the pride or is comfort getting in the way of me serving others? Because those are both easy and they’re justifiable. He hates that you just said that. But Terry is right. That is true, Mr. Summers. And I think that’s the beauty. I didn’t want to make a list, but man, when we look at the serving and locking arms with others, Concord has a long list of people that are like, very quick to say, yes, I will go and serve.
It’s one of the best things about Concord is that there are very few that are too good to step down and say, on it, and quietly just go about it. There are so many things the construction team does that no one ever knows. There are a few of you in this room, I know, that are prayer warriors who pray for all kinds of things no one knows. But the Lord does. No matter what we put together for BDS as a church without a children’s director. Which is amazing. And we said as a church, we are not letting this go. Right. This is important. And weren’t there more kids this year than we had? It was equal. Oh, okay. About the same. Yeah. But it ran. Perfect. It ran. Yep. Yep. Which is just the best. It was great. I love it. Yeah. We said… yep.
And everybody just immediately swooped in. And I don’t think, I cannot think of one time that I’ve ever served on anything that we were lacking in people that we needed. Yeah. And any members to join in. Which is such a blessing. It’s such a blessing. Where are you, Sarah Neal? One thing that works if we can do it is, you know, we can get most anything done if we don’t care who gets the credit. Amen. Right. Amen. I don’t remember where I wrote that, but I said something to that effect of like, maybe there was a question later. No, it doesn’t matter. It’ll come up to me. But you’re right. When we can genuinely let go of who gets the praise and just roll with it. Like, there’s so many times, and this is a good reality check for our own hearts, that someone else accidentally gets the praise for something that you were a part of.
Or somebody takes the praise. Or someone takes the praise for something you were a part of. And that’s a hard moment for the hearts of men. I mean, our hearts are very quick to be like, hmm. But it’s a good test. Because in the end, we should remember, it’s like, it doesn’t actually matter. Like, it’s fine. But it’s hard. Because it makes you squirm in the moment. But it’s a good attitude check to go. Okay, let’s go ahead and pivot to chapter four because I don’t want to run out of time and it’s got a lot of stuff to dig into.
Okay, so before we read, this short little outline there on the bottom of the front page talks about how Sanballat and Tobiah mock the builders. Nehemiah prays, that’s his reaction, and the people keep working until the wall is half of its height. And then mockery becomes this really antagonistic conspiracy. The people start getting really weird, and they’re actually voicing their concerns, which is great. Nehemiah prays, posts a guard, points the bat to the Lord. And then the last chunk, half the men build while the other half stand armed. I love it. It’s a cool spot. So we’re going to go ahead and read. This one we can read because there’s a few less names. So chapter 4, verse 1.
When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious. He mocked the Jews before his colleagues and the powerful men of Samaria and said, what are these pathetic Jews doing? Can they restore it by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they ever finish it? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble? Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, indeed, even if a fox climbed up on what they were building, he would break down their stone wall.
Listen, our God, for we are despised. Make their insults return on their own heads and let them be taken as plunder to a land of captivity. Do not cover their guilt or let them let their sin be erased from your sight because they have angered the builders. So we rebuilt the wall until the entire wall was joined together up to half its height for the people had the will to keep working.
And our enemies, verse 11. They won’t realize it until we’re among them and can kill them and stop the work. When the Jews who lived nearby arrived, they said to us time and again, everywhere you turn, they attack us. So I stationed people behind the lowest sections of the wall at the vulnerable areas. I stationed them by families with their swords, spears, and bows.
Verse 15. When our enemies heard that we knew their scheme and that God had frustrated it, every one of us returned to his own work on the wall. From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half held spears, shields, bows, and armor. The officers supported all the people of Judah who were rebuilding the wall. The laborers who carried the loads worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other. Each of the builders had his sword strapped around his waist while he was building, and the one who sounded the ram’s horn
Then I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, the work is enormous and spread out, and we are separated far from one another along the wall. Wherever you hear the sound of the ram’s horn, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us. So we continued the work while half of the men were holding spears from daybreak until the stars came out. And at that time I also said to the people, let everyone and his servants spend the night inside Jerusalem so they can stay in guard by night and work by day. And I, my brothers, my servants, and the men of the guard with me never took off our clothes. Each carried his weapon, even when washing.
So it’s kind of, I mean, it feels like it’s almost like a war movie is starting. Like one of my favorite movies is the kingdom of heaven. And I can just like feel it. Like everybody’s like, antsy and amped in the city, which is pretty fun. Some of the neat, noteworthy things. I have a few marks that I wanted to, there’s a lot, but a few I want to talk about.
The opposition, when we read those first few verses of Sanballat and Tobiah, and Sanballat is insulting them because he’s so angry. He calls them pathetic and will they ever finish it? Will they ever do anything with these burnt stones? And then Tobiah says, even if a fox ran up this, it would fall over. I mean, this is… They’re trying to tear down their morale. Like, obviously a fox running on a stone wall is not going to make the stone wall fall over. Even if it’s not a good stone wall, it’s not going to fall over. But their goal is to try and tear down the people’s morale. Because as of right now, they’re united. They’re locked arms. We just read parts of Chapter 3, and it’s person after person, family after family working together. Sure. They realize the only way to defeat them now is to try to tear them down with our words.
But Nehemiah’s response is awesome. If you look at verse 4 and 5, he says, Like, Nehemiah’s first reaction isn’t to… come up with a plan or lash out irrationally, his first step is to put it back to the Lord and say, God, this has to be a you thing. I don’t have an answer. I can’t control that. And quite frankly, he needs to be about the work. He doesn’t have time to deal with insults of two goofballs. He needs to be about getting this wall rebuilt. So that first question that’s there on Nehemiah 4, 1-6, where do you face ridicule or contempt? For following the Lord faithfully.
Does anybody ever face a ridicule or contempt for trying to be faithful to the Lord? Yeah, I mean, it’s funny. I mean, sometimes the world is different. Sometimes I think it’s also, maybe it’s not ridicule or contempt, it’s where do I stay quiet about my faith instead of speaking into things? That happens, too, when there’s opportunities. And sometimes you don’t see the moment. I don’t know if you’re like me. You typically have really good thoughts 2 hours after something happened. It’s it’s like somehow it’s got to be like part of the fall. Like it’s got to be part of the fall from from Genesis where like we just immediately 2 hours after like that’s what I should have asked them. And it never comes to you in the moment. And someday, someday. But it’s an important challenge for all of us.
Sometimes we don’t necessarily face the ridicule or contempt. But there are times we just hold our tongue and we don’t say something that we should have said. You know, it’s such a delicate balance. Gentle evangelism like that is really hard because we have relationships. We have neighbors or family members or friends, and we certainly want to tell them about Jesus because he’s important to us. Why would I not want to share this? But we also value the relationship, so we kind of tread lightly. And I know I probably have leaned too hard on the treading lightly when I should have just said, hey, you don’t have to agree, but I love you enough to tell you the truth. We can still be friends. I mean, it can be done.
So it’s a delicate balance. I don’t know that we always, day to day, face to face, receive contempt for being faithful. But I know that it’s easy for us to sometimes stay quiet when we ought to share. Whose opinion carries the most weight in your heart? God’s opinion or… It says here the mockers. I think it’s easy and right to say God. It should. We all know that should be the right answer. Why does the opinion of others bother us sometimes? Everybody wants to be loved. Everybody wants to be loved. Nobody wants to be thought foolish. Nobody wants to be thought lazy. Of course the answer is God’s opinion. That does carry the most weight in my heart.
But it is really easy to find ourselves curious what the opinion of others is. And hoping that it’s a good opinion. Hoping that it’s good feedback. The last question here. Do I trust God to handle… what I am tempted to avenge myself. Verse 4 and 5 is what we just re-read where Nehemiah prays to God and he does not go in revenge or avenge what has been done, but he asks God to deal with him. It’s an interesting moment because we look at this and I think it’s the I don’t like this thought, but I think it’s true. It’s the difference between handing it to God, whatever it is we’re upset about, whatever the frustration is, or stewing on it. Sometimes I am a stewer. That’s a weird word. But sometimes I will stew more than I put it back to the Lord.
And Nehemiah gives me an example here that, you know, while I don’t always appreciate having foolishness in my own heart called out, of stewing on things versus surrendering it to the Lord, I’m grateful because I know it’s better. Yeah. Something to be said for age, because the older you get, the more you save the Lord, the more you see what goes on. Yeah. It’s easier to remember that God takes care of you. Amen. Amen. That’s such a good thought. Very good.
And that’s true. That’s where I’m a really big believer. I told you guys this before. If you were not here this week, I’ll say it again. Whether it’s like writing it down or like getting a voice recorder and just recording like the ways God has been faithful in life and then passing it on to family and friends later is one of the best gifts you can give. Like I know parts of my family story.
But, like, I wish I knew. I know voice recorders existed 20, 30 years ago. But I did not think about it when my grandma was still alive, my mom’s mom. I think she passed away in, like, 2012. She was 95. But I genuinely so wish I could have sat a voice recorder in front of her and just asked her questions for hours. Because, like, again, like, I know some of the stories, and that’s the Cherokee side of the family. So, like, she knew some of the old stories of Trail of Tears, and you know, they didn’t know that the stock market had crashed in 1929 because they were already poor. So like, what difference did it make to them? And I remember hearing the stories about like, they, when, gosh, was it after World War II? Again, could have had the recording. At some point, they lived in a tent because they had not built enough houses in Pryor, which is outside Tulsa. They didn’t have houses yet, so people were living in those really cool old canvas tents with the stovepipe, which now I look at and go, man, those are my favorite tents, which to them is like, oh, cool, we get to live in a tent. And they watched downtown Pryor get wrecked by a tornado from their tent.
I mean, little things like that. I remember learning my mom, her dad died when she was 9, a car wreck. And grandma then faithfully raised 4 kids by herself, by sewing and cooking. And it was amazing. Those are the stories of faithfulness. That even though I’m only 40, I have faith.
I think I have a pretty long list of God’s faithfulness in my life, but she had more. She had 55 years on me remembering those stories. And then her mom’s stories. And then like that changes our perspective on, on not trying to avenge things ourselves, but knowing that God does work these things out. And God knows my, not unlike the people that we would say are unimportant in chapter 3. God knows they’re there. They’re recorded in history forever. Um, and it’s a delicate balance, but appealing to God’s judgment is a much healthier way. Doesn’t mean we don’t still say something when the time is to say something. But there’s a difference of saying something and holding on to it. And I know I’ve been guilty of holding on to things. Shoot, I could give you a list right now, but I’m not going to because it’s not your business. Plus, it would take too long because it’s dumb. The second section, 7 through 15.
Look at what, in verse 10, Judah says, in Judah it was said, the strength of the laborer fails since there is so much rubble. We will never be able to rebuild the wall. That’s a, have you ever felt that way? Where yeah like it it just feels and it’s not actually rubble although I guess sometimes like burned down house it can be rubble but most of the time for most of us it’s not actual rubble but the stuff just feels so great that you can’t get ahead that every two steps forward I’m sorry one step forward two steps back everybody’s felt that way yeah okay good when we look at this.
That’s the heart of this passage. But we have to look at Nehemiah’s response. Nehemiah then goes on, especially in verses 13 and 14, and says, So I stationed people behind the lowest sections of the wall at the vulnerable areas. I stationed them by families with their swords and spears and bows.
And after I made the inspection, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, don’t be afraid of them. Remember the great and awe-inspiring Lord and fight for your countrymen, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and homes. Which, if you’re like me, you can’t help but read that passage and think like Braveheart. You know, the… I don’t know. That’s a dumb reference. But you just imagine the leader that’s standing up and everyone’s raising their swords and cheering because someone is reminding them of what is true and good. And what’s true and good is that we don’t have to be afraid of them because we serve the Lord. Look what the Lord has done in our lives before. Look what he has done in the lives of our people for all of these decades before getting us back to this point. And I think what’s neat is
Often when hard things happen, not necessarily like every time, but I hear this often. Whenever something hard happens, people just say, you’re fine. It’s okay. You’re fine. It’ll be okay. Okay. That’s a nice phrase, and it’s not untrue. It probably will be. But Nehemiah doesn’t lie and say, guys, it’s not a big deal. It is a big deal. He doesn’t lie to them and say, oh, it’s fine. He instead redirects them to God.
It’s tiny nuance. It’s little detail. But nothing in this does he say, you know, in verse 14. He doesn’t say, it’s fine. Don’t worry about them. Just keep doing your work. He says, don’t be afraid. Remember that the Lord, the great and awe-inspiring Lord, and fight for your countrymen. He doesn’t lie. And I like that. He just simply says, don’t be afraid.
Focus on the Lord. And in my mind, I read it and go, he’s acknowledging that it is fearful. He’s acknowledging that it doesn’t look good. He’s acknowledging that it’s difficult. But we know who God is, and that’s what we’re going to hold on to. The second question there. What can we learn from? We prayed to our God, and we set a guard. We prayed to our God and set a guard, the spiritual thing and the common sense thing? Yes.
Man, I was a little nervous. I was like, I hope I’m phrasing this question right. Okay, Terry got it. Gold star for Terry. They did the prayerful thing, the spiritual thing, and the physical hands-on thing. And that’s super important. I wrote down, I don’t remember where I read this, prayer without action is presumptuous.
Prayer without action is presumption. But action without prayer is self-reliance. Neither of those are great. Prayer without action is presumption. Action without prayer is self-reliance. Both not good. But a balance between the two is so important. We need both. But most of us tend to lean one way or the other. That we’ll either just pray about it.
And then, like, hope that God works out the details. Or we’ll super go to work and forget to ever pray about it. Which is very, very… Oh, someone grabbed the door for… Sally, you’re amazing. You did. I didn’t see you fast enough to come get the door.
But this is an important caveat that just God ordains the ends and the means. You’ve heard that phrase before, the ends and the means? Like the end goal, but also the goal or the actions to get there. We prayed and we set a card. Okay, we have so little time and much to cover, but we’re doing good. Question, we’ll look at D. D is important.
What threats or rumors are loudest in your life? You don’t have to necessarily answer, but maybe the way you rephrase this in your mind is, what fears do we dwell upon? What fears do we hold on to? What are the… It’s not… I mean, fear doesn’t always have to be a big thing. It can be the little things that make us antsy or the things we kind of, the kids say this a lot, low-key worry about. It’s really dumb. But the idea of being like, I don’t want to super admit I’m worried, but I’m low-key worried. Like, it’s not a big deal, but you’re like, you’re worried about it. Just talk about it. We can get it out. We worry about things. We stew on things. We ponder things. We get a little anxious about things. Those are fears.
So think about the fears that we dwell on. The question that I jotted or I wrote there was like, you know, what are the things that are loudest? But I think the part we have to assess in our own hearts, mine too, am I letting those things be bigger than God? And sometimes we do. It’s our fallen nature. It doesn’t mean we stay in that though either. You know, it’s… I probably jotted this down far smaller than I can read. But we have to consider and name the fears often so we can set them at the throne. Because I see Nehemiah do that. He names the fear. He doesn’t tell them that the fear isn’t real. Like, oh, no, guys, this is not. He says, like, yeah, but don’t be afraid because God is who he said he was.
Like naming the fear sometimes is really important. You know, you even see it in like, in counseling world where it’s like, sometimes it’s really important to like, shoot, even making a to-do list is really helpful because if you’re like me and you have too many irons in the fire, they float around your head and then you get real like overloaded by it. But then you write down your to-do list. You’re like, oh, that’s like 4 things. I’m good. But floating on your head, the fear, the anxiety, all the little worries are just kind of compound. Sometimes putting it down and then realizing God can handle this too is enormously important. So before we have to run out of time, we’ve got 14 minutes. The last few verses. So in verses 16 through 23, we see Nehemiah.
I know this is where half of the folks are building while the other half stand armed. And then there’s the horns, the trumpets that are ready to go if there’s anything. So the first question, we already know the answer, how does Nehemiah arrange the work? He splits it up. But the second question builds off that. Where in our lives do we need to be both building and watching? At least in my life, like a clock, I tend to swing to one or the other. It’s hard to balance both of those at the same time. We build, build, build, build, build, but then we kind of slacken up on being watchful. Or we’re so watchful that we don’t build. I wrote it down. Maybe this is a helpful way of expounding on building and watching. Building is the daily faithful work. It’s the showing up, the serving, the caring for, the praying, the just ordinary everyday faithfulness.
We’re watching as the vigilance against, you know, the erosion, like the temptation and the bitterness and maybe the frustration. Like both of those things have to be. We’ve got two goals. We need to build and we need to guard against the things that are coming, just like the Hebrews. It’s amazing. These people are building a stone wall and they’re carrying stones in one hand and weapon in the other. Yep.
I mean, sometimes this makes me sound like a weenie. Sometimes I complain about carrying my backpack into school and my lunchbox and my water. And you’re like, man, I can’t believe my classroom is so far away. I’m not carrying a sword and all my tools. Right. That’s very true. Oh, man.
I’m going to skip to D. What keeps us from trusting Nehemiah’s… He says multiple spots. Our God will fight for us. Why is that so hard for us to trust? We see it all over Scripture. But why is that so hard to trust? It’s maybe not so hard to trust, but it’s hard to discern what your role is in it. Agreed. We’re like, where do I need to be praying and where do I need to be? What was the other word? Set a guard. What action do you still take? Yeah. Like there’s action here and there’s spiritual. Like where’s the bounce? Because it’s hard. Because sometimes it is the pray and wait, not the pray. And the waiting is the action, which is really annoying for those of us that are to-do list people. Terry, what were you going to say? Sometimes.
We forget what God has done in our past. Yeah. And we can’t rely on that because our memories are shot. Yeah. I mean, I tell you what, I tried really hard during, I mean, our kids were adopted in 2021, which is hard to believe because it feels like it was yesterday. But I catch myself sometimes, my students 5 years ago, they all knew the story because they were watching you live through foster care and trying to get to adoption. They lived it.
Where now, I realize when it comes up, no children that are in my classes have any awareness of it because they didn’t live through it. They didn’t watch me living through it. It gets mentioned, but it doesn’t get talked about all the time. And I’m so glad. The ministry we did our classes through for foster care asked us to blog it as we were kind of from the foster parent perspective. And I’m so glad we did because I catch myself forgetting it. I know big picture, God was very thankful in that season. But the little things, it’s like, oof. I mean, it was 8.5 years ago when it started or 9 years ago.
8.5 years ago. The details are easy to float away. And I don’t want to lose them because I want to remember so I can tell them someday. And just because the story matters. Question E. Question E is hard. Am I willing to persevere in costly obedience even when no one sees and the rewards are not yet visible?
We are very, especially with young people, meritocracy, where it’s like, well, I want to see my grade. I want to see the raise. We like to see the results of something. I have an uncle who, when I went to work for K-Life years ago, which was the youth ministry I worked for out of college, he had grown up doing K-Life when he was a high schooler. And he sat me down, and he was like, Brian, you need to know you’re going to spend every waking hour doing K-Live stuff. You’ll be exhausted, teaching Bible studies, playing basketball at the park. You’re going to be worn out. And you have to know you might never see any fruit. Ever. It might be years. He’s like, but you have to know. I don’t remember anything my small group leader taught us, but I remember how much they cared about me. I’m like…
Like it was good advice. And it was really good advice because it changed my mindset going into it before I had an expectation of like, you’re just planting seeds. And he was right. The fruit was very few and far between. But I was lucky enough. There were a few that were just like, that was the encouragement you needed because something neat happened in a kid’s life. But I say that. It is really hard. I mean, obedience is costly anyway.
Really hard when no one sees. But even harder sometimes when the rewards are very far off. Because that’s just not the way we like to operate. I mean, like I said in my to-do list, I love crossing things off. Even mowing the yard is like so satisfying because it goes from being weedy and wild for a couple days. It looks real sharp. That’s so satisfying. That is not always the way the kingdom of God works.
The faithfulness that we are called to often takes a lifetime to see the fruit of. There are things I can’t wait for heaven for that reason. To know that one domino that got pushed over and what dominoes happen to. I used to teach economics. I’m a bit of a nerd. But when you think about economics, all it takes is one string being pulled over on this side of the world and 48,000 other things change. And it’s fun and it’s neat to watch.
I can’t wait for that side of heaven. Yeah, Terry. There’s a story. I think it was a Welsh pastor. He preached for years and saw no one come to know Christ. And he cried out to God, you know, what am I doing wrong? How can I improve? You know, all of that. And what he didn’t realize was one of his salvation experiences, he had one person came. It was one of the world’s great evangelists. Billy Graham? Charles Spurgeon?
Oh, okay. I thought you were going to do the name. I was waiting for it. I was like, I’ll keep guessing. Moral of the story is you never know. You literally never know. And that’s where I have to remind myself and I have to remind my other teachers in my department. We’re not big. There’s like 6 of us. But we’re planting seeds.
We literally have no idea. And it’s shocking, like running into kids at grad parties, like Westminster grad party circuit is like weird. Like there’s so many kids who come back from old years and they’re all connected by some family or friend connection. I ran into multiple kids this year and it was like, I should have written it down in my notebook. It was so affirming because they’re like, Mr. Malloy, you don’t remember this at all. Like remember that Devo you gave about such and such? And I’m like, I do not. They’re like, I’ve thought about that for years. And you’re like, praise the Lord. Like, I didn’t, but praise the Lord. Again, that was not a humblebribe. We don’t always know the impact that our faithfulness will have.
So I, like you, have done a couple of different things. So I’ve worked in the retail world, and I’ve been a teacher. So retail world, 25 years. Teacher, 21 years. So in the retail world, I would get to see the fruits of my labor. I stopped. So every day, I could check those things. Look what I did. Look what I did. And I’m like, that was great. Teaching, every day. You’re like, did anybody hear anything I said today?
And in the grand scheme of things, I don’t know a single person in however many years I’ve been out of retail now that went, you remember when you stocked that shelf and it looked so amazing, right? But the students that come back. Yep, yep. And you never know what you said or what you did. And it’s not usually the kids I anticipate. No, and it’s never the kids you anticipate. When they left, it was like, ooh, I don’t need to see you again. It’s crazy. And then they come back, and they’re like, so excited to see you. And you’re like, oh, I’m glad you did, because…
We didn’t leave in a place that I was really excited to see you again. Ten times more than the kids you would think it would be. Way more. It is crazy. Which is why sometimes the hard kids tend to be some of my favorites. Because they’re the ones who you know need it, even when they make you kind of want to beat your head against the wall. But, you know, point overall is it’s great when you can see it, you know. But you don’t always have to see it. And you know that as a teacher.
Sometimes it’s so hard when you think, what am I doing wrong? Am I doing this right? You know, you just need some confirmation that you’re doing the right thing so that you either keep doing that. And it’s almost like you get a little carrot every once in a while from the Lord of like, hey, remember that kid you saw at that grad party 2 years ago? Hold on to that one because you’re going to need it for the next 4 years. And you’re like, whoa. Pull those little notes out of your desk. Yes.
Oh, man. Okay, so the part that’s last, where it’s highlighted gray down the back. 3 and 4 is really good because I think it challenges not only our idea of working together, but living a life that’s balanced in the sense of I am not ignoring the spiritual realities or the physical reality. I can go about the work, I can set a guard, and I can pray to the Lord and be focused. That’s one of the beautiful, neat things about being a believer is so much of the world. It’s like, you can only be one thing at once or like we can hold on to joy and sorrow. We can hold on to prayer and action. Like, and we can live in that tension of like the already, but not yet. I mean, that’s neat. I get excited about that. So we see that in this chapter 3 and 4, that being this balance, um,
But I think what’s really cool is that all we see in chapter 3 and 4 points us directly to Jesus. We went there right at the beginning, and I love it. Because Jesus is the greater servant. I even put scripture in here for you. The greater servant who truly stood. I mean, washing his disciples’ feet, taking the form of a servant. I mean, that was the lowest servitude he could perform for them.
He’s the good shepherd. He’s the lamb of God. He is the true builder who holds his people together. And then Jesus, typology is a very big word for the very end of a lesson. But there’s types of Jesus, meaning there’s people like Nehemiah who point us to the true and greater Jesus. Like Joseph is a type. Moses is a type. Typology is the study of those. Nehemiah, is a foreshadowing. He is pointing to the greater Jesus. Jesus was mocked and despised, just like Nehemiah is mocked and despised. But just like Jesus, Nehemiah didn’t retaliate, and he genuinely pointed people back to God over and over again, just like Jesus. And I love that. I love that the story of Nehemiah here
points us so vividly to the way that we see Jesus fulfill these things later in Scripture. So the questions to ponder there on the bottom. When you are asked to serve quietly, or when opposition and weariness set in, does your instinct reveal a heart trying to hold things together on its own, or a heart learning to rest in the God who fights for his people?
We all know which one it should be. We all know it should be a heart learning to rest in the God who fights with people. But our instinct sometimes reveals a heart that’s trying to hold things together.
You know, like, “I’ll get it together.” Like, “I’ll do better next time.” I can even see it in silly, like, days at school that are hard. That I’m like, “ugh.” Like, 100%. was trying to pull myself up by my own bootstraps. And really just needed to rest in the Lord. Like, today I just needed to be faithful.
Not every day can be perfect, and it is okay. We see that in so many areas of our life, and we have to be really humble and honest to be able to assess that. It’s not a constant. It’s not like I have decided I will only have a heart that rests in the Lord. No, like we have to regularly check our hearts and check our attitude.
Yes, ma’am?
That’s when it’s important to stand next to somebody else and recognize when they’re having a difficult time.
Well said. And you can encourage them. They will turn around and do the same thing for you at some point.
Well said. I mean, that’s a great thought. I have a good, like, regularly in teacher world, and this happens in business world too, but you hear a lot about teacher world from me, unfortunately. And Nicole will have a really bad day. Kids are just a nightmare, really frustrating. What am I doing here?
Colton, one of my other business teachers, will come in and just be beside himself frustrated. And then I have my days too. And we have a couple others that are part-time in our department. But it’s so good because, in God’s mercy, most of the time we all three have a bad day on the same day. So it’s a blessing when someone comes in hot, the other two can be like, “talk. What’s going on?” And then in the end, pointing back to, “remember, you are doing good and we are planting seeds. Like, tomorrow’s a new day.”
There’s a goofy show on TV that, it’s kind of in line with like the office style, like the mockumentary thing, but they’re in a grade school. It’s called Abbott Elementary. It’s really funny.
But it’s funny because it’s so, have you guys watched it?
I mean, it’s so relatable for teachers, it’s just painful. But there’s a day, one of the young teachers, the main character, just gets ripped into by a parent.
I mean, this parent just lays into her for no good reason. Like, she’s trying to be a good teacher, trying to work with the parent to love the kid better, and the mom just loses her cool and storms out.
She goes in with a veteran teacher who’s like very, she’s like, you know, in her 50s, like she’s got the experience. She’s kind of salty and fun. And the conversation unfolds. She explains what happened. And she’s like, “I feel like a failure. Like there’s nothing I can do different than what I did, and I’m failing this kid.”
And this teacher gives her this pep talk of like “you showing up every day and doing your best and loving these kids is exactly what they need. Even when it doesn’t feel like it’s working, that matters.”
And that’s the beauty of standing next to somebody is that they can step in and say, “no, no, it is hard, but be faithful.” And it’s a great charge. That’s a great spot, honestly, to stop. There’s another question that you can read later. But that’s exactly what we need. And that’s the beauty of this passage. So any thoughts before we pray?
Well, and even when we get older and don’t work anymore, your friends, you’re there for them when they need it. Or when you see something that you maybe need to tweak a little.
Amen.
But being a good friend.
Yep. Yep. You just need to be there and be aware.
I had a really good friend when I worked for K-Life. He lives in Texas now. And he was going through a really rough season. Went to a counselor a couple times. And he had this realization. He said, “you know, I’ve realized.” And he liked his counselor. But he decided to stop going. He’s like, “I’ve realized that between you and we had another friend named, oh, my gosh, Brad. He was like. I have such good conversations with you guys, and I can be so transparent and honest.”
Yes. Like, that’s just as good for me. And it was a cool moment, because it was an accident that he said it, I think. But it reminded me, I’m like, that’s right. That is exactly what Christian community should be like. I mean, that is a huge blessing.
Yeah. You know, we were sitting, before we came tonight, we were sitting at Cracker Barrel. And it is so funny how conversations…
We were talking to a poor lady sitting here on the right side of us, and it came up as a joke, kind of a joke first, because we always order a side, period. We order the overloaded potato.
Oh, yeah. $2.49. It’s huge. It’s a bargain, yeah. But anyway, I’m talking to them, and it came up fortunately.
About God.
Yeah. And then there was another two ladies sitting at a table back and came up and talked to us about how happy we made them. We didn’t even talk to them. And they said just because of our camaraderie. Like friendship and camaraderie.
Yes. Yeah. That’s really sweet. You know, it’s just, yeah. You never know what your words in life can speak to other people. Right. You never know. Oh, I love that.
Oh, man. Okay, let’s pray. And then I have to take a picture of everybody so I can do attendance before I forget. So don’t stand up right away. Father God, thank you so much. Thank you for our class. Thank you for the discussion. Thank you for really, really good thoughts and wrestling through these things. God, we just want to be more like you.
We want to live life and honor your kingdom. We want to understand how living as exiles and sojourners and travelers in this world, how do we live holy and set apart lives? So, God, thank you for moments like this. Thank you for midweek time to reflect and be back in your word. God, I’m so grateful for our class. We ask all this in your name.
Amen.
