Nehemiah 4:6, “So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.”
Nehemiah was a cupbearer to King Artaxerxes of Persia. He had learned of Jerusalem’s walls being in ruins. Being deeply grieved upon hearing this, he fasted and prayed for guidance. Being led in answer to prayer, he recognized the importance of rebuilding the walls for protection and security. Jerusalem’s walls and gates lay in ruins after the Babylonian exile, leaving the city vulnerable, and the residents demoralized.
Nehemiah received permission from King Artaxerxes to go and reconstruct the ruins. His calling was to combine practical reconstruction with spiritual leadership through prayer while recruiting communal effort. With any effort of construction, there is opposition from without.
No sooner did the news of this reconstruction project become known than the enemies of God’s people reacted.
First, they opposed Nehemiah and his workers through ridicule. Next, they mocked the work being done. These were Sanballet, the governor of Samaria, and Tobiah, the governor of the Ammonites. Finally, these officials of the Gentile nations tried to stage a conspiracy.
There are always enemies, but God always delivers. There are always oppositions from without, and there are always oppositions from within. Nehemiah’s workers began to complain. They were tired physically, had psychological fear of the enemy, wanted to return to their farms, and suffered financial loss.
Ministries in modern times face the same opposition that Nehemiah faced. In today’s ministries or workplace, there are people who are constructionists, helping to get the job done. Others are destructionists, busy tearing down. A third group is made up of obstructionists who create problems for the people doing the work. Nehemiah committed his problems to the Lord, faced the issues, and emerged victorious. Work is a curse.
Genesis 3:17-19 describes the curse placed upon man for disobedience. By nature, mankind resists labor. Jesus came to show the essentiality of work.
Jesus said in John 4:34, “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
God started the work of redemption in Genesis 3:21, and Jesus finished this work by shedding his blood on the cross as the Lamb of God to take away our sin.
In John 9:30, He said, “It is finished.” A mind to work is a decision made to follow the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:16, “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”