Don't Celebrate too Soon!

It happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, … that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work. Nehemiah 4:15 It the measure of a man is how much it takes to get him to quit, then Nehemiah would have ranked near the top of anyone’s list. Nothing could keep this guy down! He began with an almost impossible task, and his entire staff was demoralized. He rallied them to get them started rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, but they soon encountered betrayal from within their own ranks and opposition from the outside. Nehemiah’s leadership saved the day. He kept his staff working through all the opposition. And, at the critical moment when they were ready to quit, he told them to focus their attention on defending their families from attack. This put “steel” in the backbones of his people. The enemy recognized this and gave up. Immediately, Nehemiah told the people to go back to work on the walls. Why couldn’t they take a break? Just a few days off to celebrate and regroup? Nehemiah knew the best thing for them was to get back to work. They wouldn’t be safe until the walls were rebuilt, and they couldn’t afford to waste any time. Sometimes it is appropriate to take a brief break to celebrate our minor successes, but often people need to get back to work as soon as possible so they can complete the larger goal. Please comment below or email me directly at curtis.songer@gmail.com