Nehemiah 6:2-4, NIV
They were scheming to harm me, so I sent messages to them with this reply ‘I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?’ Four times they sent me the same message and each time I gave them the same answer.
Lessons from Nehemiah – Day 5
Nehemiah’s enemies had tried ridicule, sending open letters, and physical attack. Now they tried a false accusation of treason, which would have carried the death penalty. Basically they were saying, ‘If you know what’s good for you, Nehemiah, you’ll come down from your wall and negotiate with us, because we have the power to get you killed.’ They wanted him off the wall at all costs.
Four times they sent him messages and each time Nehemiah refused to come. This is intimidation at its worst. The enemy will use whatever will work on you and me to see us climb down from the wall we’re building for God – to stop the work going forward. We should never negotiate with the enemy, never compromise, never listen to his schemes. He plots against us. If Nehemiah had come down and met them, they would have murdered him.
This was an awful time for Nehemiah but he consistently refused to go and he said ‘No’ to the enemy. We have to learn that we’ll never be able to say ‘Yes’ to God until we’ve learned to say ‘No’ to the enemy.
Prayer: Dear Lord, help me to recognise the enemy’s schemes against me today. Help me to say out loud to the enemy, ‘No!’ So that I can then say, ‘Yes!’ to You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
