This is Pastor Tim’s article which appeared in the Evening Leader on Tuesday, June 4, 2024
I would like to tell you about a friend of mine, his name is Nehemiah. He is one of the characters in the Old Testament and when it comes to major Biblical characters, he is often overlooked for some of the more obvious choices like Moses and Jesus. Truth be told, he did not do as much as other major characters, but that does not mean that he doesn’t have a lesson to teach.
The overall story of the book of Nehemiah is that he was tasked with rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem that had been destroyed by the Babylonians. To no one’s surprise, he ran into a lot of criticism and opposition to completing this project. The names of the leaders of the opposition were Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem. Let me tell you about one of the confrontations that they had. We read about it in Nehemiah 6:1-3:
1 Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies found out that I had finished rebuilding the wall and that no gaps remained–though we had not yet set up the doors in the gates. 2 So Sanballat and Geshem sent a message asking me to meet them at one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But I realized they were plotting to harm me, 3 so I replied by sending this message to them: “I am engaged in a great work, so I can’t come. Why should I stop working to come and meet with you?”
If you have ever attempted to accomplish any kind of organized goal, you have met with someone like Sanballat, Tobiah or Geshem. They all follow the same method in trying to tear you down.
First, we read that the wall rebuilding project was making progress. The three enemies were not even mentioned prior to this. It was not until some successes and victories were being enjoyed that they started to pay attention. This is typical when things are starting to go well, there will always be someone who wants to rain on your parade. However, Nehemiah does not give in to their request. In fact, he does not even give them the time they demand.
What Nehemiah understood is that these three people were not going to be satisfied with any explanation he gave. There was nothing that Nehemiah could say that would get them behind the project. So instead of taking the time to go have a fruitless conversation, he declined their invitation. If you were to keep reading the rest of chapter 4, you will find that Nehemiah declined this invitation 3 more times and that prompts Sanballat to make a false accusation against Nehemiah.
Second, I want you to see exactly what Sanballat and his cronies are asking for. They will not come to see Nehemiah down where the work is being done. They want him to leave the project, even leave the city, to come to see them. Nehemiah saw that they were planning an ambush, which made declining this fruitless conversation even easier. Sure, setting people up for an ambush is never a good or a noble thing to do, but what I want to draw your attention to is that the request was for him to leave. They wanted him to walk away from the project to engage with them at a location far from where the work was being done. There was nothing stopping Sanballat from coming to see Nehemiah if they really wanted to talk, but talk was not the point, distraction was. They knew that without the force of Nehemiah behind the building project that the project would lose momentum, which was the actual point.
Both the world of the days of Nehemiah as well as the world of today is jealous of progress. It is a shame that is where we live, but it is. What I want to encourage all of you who are a part of leading anything is to take a lesson from Nehemiah: keep your eyes on the prize. If your intentions are noble and you believe you can defend what you are building, then don’t let the Sanballats of the world lure you into the plain of Ono. Today, the Plain of Ono is social media, a place where complaints go to fester. Stay focused on the task before you, live with integrity and purpose, and stay true to your God given task. If God has given you the task to complete and you are working on it with integrity and purpose, then there is no reason to engage in fruitless conversation designed to do nothing but draw you away from your goal.