The stones they carried held no precious minerals, no jewels. They were just rocks, ugly gray rocks. They seemed to have tumbled in a heap without end.
They carried the rocks and stacked them. They piled them one on another, load after load, stacking them – carry and stack, cart and pile. But the structure didn’t get any bigger.
“We can’t go on. It’s too much. We’re never going to finish. We give up.”
That was their cry to Nehemiah, their leader. This cry didn’t come at the beginning of the wall building project. Oh no, like many projects it started with gusto. In fact right before we read about this moment in Nehemiah chapter four the author had told us: So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.
What happened? The story moved from the people had a mind to work to: The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall. And this all happened in four verses.
I know exactly what happened. It happens in my backyard all the time. I get a great idea for a project in the backyard, and with little thought to how difficult the task will be I begin. I’m excited. I know this is going to be the best looking walkway, flower garden, vegetable garden, rock wall – oh, I can’t remember all of the projects I’ve started. With gusto, I might add.
Unfortunately, they are seldom finished, at least in a timely manner. I run out of steam. My back starts to feel the stress of bending over. Muscles I only work a few times a year start to scream, “What are you doing? Are you insane? We can’t finish this by ourselves.”
The children of Israel had reached that dreaded spot, the one that brings me to my knees, the halfway point. It’s a terrible place. You’ve gone too far to turn back, but the end seems to be forever away still.
Often the time we are at our weakest, is when we are halfway through something. Sometimes we know it. Sometimes we don’t.
When we know we’re there, we may be able to muster the strength to carry on. But, what about those time when we just don’t think we’re going to make it? What can we do then?
All of us will face those moments. You may face a moment like that in your marriage, in raising your kids, or in your career. So, what do you do?
Quit. No, you may feel like that, but we can look back at Nehemiah’s story and find the solution. We have to refocus.
The children of Israel were sure they couldn’t continue on. They were being threatened by outside forces. They complained about all the rubble around them. Problems were everywhere, and they were tired on top of all that.
The wall they were rebuilding was the wall of protection around the city. King Nebuchadnezzar’s army had pulled the old wall down, rock from rock, into the huge pile of rubble that they were now climbing over. It was a mess.
But the mess was much smaller than it had been when they started. They were using those very same rocks that had been the old wall to build the new wall, and now the wall was half its height. The rubble they were complaining about was the very storehouse that was supplying their needs.
That’s often the case when we are struggling. Our biggest problems are also a source for our success, but how do we see them for what they are? How do we take our eyes off the rubble?
We follow the advice of Nehemiah. He didn’t explain to them that there was less rubble than when they started. He didn’t say, “Cheer up. We’ve come a long way.”
Have you ever done that? When someone is having one of those really tough days, they’ve reached a halfway point, and you say something pithy. “Oh, things aren’t really as bad as you think.” Usually the result is less than positive. I know, I do it to my wife all the time. You’d think I’d learn.
Nehemiah was obviously smarter than me, so he didn’t focus on the rubble. He didn’t focus on the job either. That would be the route many leaders would take. “Remember, we’ve got a job to do. It’s an important job. We need everyone on their A-game.” Pep rallies for the defeated aren’t too successful.
He didn’t remind them of all he had done to help them out. “Listen people, I went before King Artaxerxes, risking my own life to come here and lead you all. I made sure we had lumber for the doorposts and gates. I mean, come on. If I can do all this for you, you can keep going until the job’s done.” No, he didn’t focus their attention on his fearless leadership.
Nehemiah did what you and I need to do. He focused them back on God. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome.
If the mission of our job is bring glory to God. If our work is not really about us, but truly about him, then he has to be where our eyes, our mind, our hearts are focused. You want to push through the tough times, focus on the Lord, who is great and awesome.
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