Dealing With Discouragement: Nehemiah #6
This is an exposition of Nehemiah 4:10-23. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, December 6, 2015.
Intro:
A funny thing happened several years ago in Darlington, Maryland. Edith, a mother of eight, came home from her neighbor’s house one Saturday afternoon. As she walked into the house she saw her five youngest children huddled together staring intently at something in the center of the room. As she slipped up on them to see what had so arrested the attention of her children, Edith was horrified to find several baby skunks! She let out a blood curdling scream, “Children run!” Each child picked up a skunk and ran.
We’re kind of like that with our burdens. We bring our cares and concerns to the Lord. We lay them at His feet. The Lord says, “Run!” We pick up the stinking things and run off with them. Sometimes we leave it with the Lord until the service is over and pick them up on our way out the door. There are certain things we just find hard to leave with Him. One such critter is discouragement. Discouragement is one of the great enemies of the work of God.
Have you ever been discouraged? Have you ever grown weary in well doing? Some of you are thinking, “Our pastor certainly has a grasp of the obvious!” Of course we all battle with discouragement. We all have those times when we feel like throwing in the towel and walking away. Often discouragement comes on the heels of great victory. Do you remember Elijah on Mount Carmel? He had just defeated the 400 prophets of Baal in that “God Contest.” Immediately after that he sat in that cave and wished to die. Discouragement also seems to come when you undertake some great work for God. Not at the beginning, there too much adrenalin in those early days, it comes when you push beyond the initial excitement and begin to settle into the routine. In the dog days the demons of doubt and discouragement rear their ugly heads.
Nehemiah and the builders were halfway through their project when the cancer of discouragement began to work its way through the body of believers and threaten their entire project. Nehemiah had been minding his own business down in Persia. He spent his time seeing to the king’s business. Making sure everything was just right. God began to burden his heart for the people of God and about his homeland. Those who had returned from exile where living in disgrace. The walls were still down (there was no security) and the gates had been burned with fire (there was no justice). As a result the people were mocked. More importantly God was demeaned. Nehemiah wept and prayed for 4 months. Finally an opportunity arose. He asked for permission to return to Jerusalem; for protection and for provision. God moved in the heart of king Artexerxes and Nehemiah was on his way home.
- A plan was put into place.
- People were recruited.
- Laborers were organized.
- I’ll wrap this job up and head back to life in Persia.
Things didn’t go according to plan. From the moment he arrived there were those who stood in opposition to the work. Nehemiah prayed. The more he prayed the worse things got. The harder they worked the more intense the opposition. Now they were halfway there. The wall was halfway finished and the people became discouraged.
Text: Nehemiah 4:10-15
Discouragement is the chief occupational hazard of kingdom work. I wish that was not the case. I wish I could say, “Just love Jesus. Do what he says and you’ll never taste discouragement or defeat.” But that’s just not true. Both experience and Scripture says otherwise. As a child of God you will face you share of discouragement. In fact, in this sin sick and fallen world you will probably face more than your fair share but you can rise above it. You don’t have to live there.
The message of our text is clear…
Thesis: As a child of God engaged in kingdom work, you can rise above the dark clouds of discouragement.
I want to share 2 vital steps to overcoming discouragement in kingdom work.
- You must recognize the primary causes of discouragement. (4:10-12)Fatigue
Failure
Frustration
Fear - You must apply biblical principles as a means of defeating discouragement. (4:13-23)
Surround yourself with the support and encouragement of friends and family.
Take your eyes off of your troubles and put them on the LORD.
Look beyond yourself to others.
Recognize the need for constant vigilance.