Nehemiah 4:6-15: Nehemiah
was on a mission to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem. This mission was a man
date from God. Nehemiah tells us that it was God that put it into his heart to
take the long journey to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls. Upon arriving at
Jerusalem he surveyed the city; accessed the damage and put a plan of action
into motion to rebuild the walls. He rallied the peopled together and told them
what God had put in his heart and shared his vision with them and soon the work
was under way. Nehemiah
4:6 tells us that they were half finished when discouragement showed up.
Isn’t
that the way that it always happens? We start doing something new filled with
excitement and enthusiasm and about half way through discouragement sets in. We
look at what we are doing and it looks like we are making little or no progress
at all. It seems the more we work the less we accomplish. If we carefully study
this chapter we can discover the causes and cures of discouragement. That the
two things I want us to look at today and tomorrow
The Causes of Discouragement: vs
10-12
A. Fatigue Due To A Loss Of
Strength: v10 The number one cause of
discouragement is fatigue. They were just plain worn out. They had worked a
long and hard for an extended period of time. They were physically,
mentally, emotionally and spiritually exhausted. They were tired, weary and
worn down. When you're exhausted it's hard to be on a spiritual or
emotional high. When does fatigue usually set in? When does
discouragement set in? v. 6 "So
we rebuilt the wall until all of it reached half its height."
Fatigue and discouragement comes at the midpoint. Everybody's got energy when
you start. It's a new project, a new problem, a new solution. But
after a while the newness of the project wears off. You get bored, tired
and discouragement sets in.
B. Frustration Due To A Loss Of
Vision: v10,Ezra:4:4-5. The word frustrate
means: to break, to annul, to do away, to fail, ineffective, made my void, to
split, divide. That’s what your enemy wants to do. He wants to break you, Annul
your work and service for God, to do away with you, to make you fail, to make
you ineffective, to make your life void of any meaning, to split and divide the
church. When you and I become discouraged and frustrated these are the things
that happen to us. However that is not God’s plan or purpose for our lives or
our church. You and I as the children of God and as the church of God are
destined to succeed. We are destined to overcome and be effective in what we do
for the glory of God and for the good of others. Only when we allow ourselves
to be overcome by discouragement so we fail. Praise God your failure does not
have to be final.
C. Failure Due To A Loss Of
Confidence: v10, A loss of confidence is a
major contributor to discouragement. When you loose your strength you loose
your ability to function. When you loose your vision you loose your ability to
see how to function. Next you loose your confidence in your ability to
function. When we loose our motivation we become overwhelmed with the empty
feeling that we will never accomplish what we set out to do. Nothing can
be more discouraging than the feeling of being a failure. I couldn’t finish
what I started. I thought I had what it took to succeed. The question is:
How do you react to failure? Winners see failures only as temporary
setbacks.
D. Fear Due To A Loss Of
Security: 4:11-12 The final cause of
discouragement is fear that comes as a result of insecurity. Listen to the
first part of verse 11, “And our Adversaries said”. When we stop
listening to God we will start listening to our adversaries. Romans 10:17
say’s, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. You have to be
careful to who you listen to. Not everyone giving you advise is interested your
well-being and success. Fact is there are some that would love to see you fail
and they would give anything for the opportunity to make you fall.
...to be continued
Peace be unto you
Shallom, just get encouraged in d word of God.
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