One of the things that we pride ourselves on is that we can multitask. We like to think that we can do several things at once and do them all well but we are easily distracted. Have you noticed the distractions swirling around you lately trying to pull you away from the work that God has for you to do? If so, you are not alone. Nehemiah knew the same feeling.

God used Nehemiah to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem but not without opposition and distractions. The enemies of God knew that without the wall around the city to protect it that it was vulnerable. They plotted and planned to come against the city. Nehemiah prayed and stationed guards to stand watch while they continued working.

Nehemiah’s enemies were relentless to the end. Nehemiah 6:1-2 says, “When word came to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left in it—though up to that time I had not set the doors in the gates Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono. But they were scheming to harm me.” Even when the wall was finished, except for the gate, Nehemiah’s enemies were plotting to get him off track and to keep him from doing his work for the Lord. There is a funny side note here. When your enemies want to meet with you while you are working, it will probably be in the plain of Ono (Oh NO). Nehemiah was prayed up on this project and was ready to tell his enemies Oh No!

Nehemiah had a purpose, and he stuck to it. This is how he replied, “And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?” (Nehemiah 6:3). We should all feel this way about our work and be determined to see it through to completion whether it be our jobs, our church work or any other task that we are doing for the Lord.

The results of Nehemiah’s faithfulness was that the job was completed and those around knew that it was God.  “So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.” (Nehemiah 6:15:16)

Nehemiah succeeded because he knew his purpose, he prayed for his work, and he had a good work ethic and would not be deterred. May we learn from his example so that others may look at our work and realize that it was only accomplished with the help of our God. If you need a reminder, why not write the words “I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down” and put them where you can see them every day.