Nehemiah 6:1-14
Nehemiah and his team were pretty much finished with rebuilding the wall. This would be the last opportunity for Sanballat, Tobias, and the enemies of Nehemiah to take action in order to stop the rebuilding of the wall. They attempted to arrange a meeting with Nehemiah but Nehemiah understood the meeting was a cover with pretense for an attack on him. When that failed, Sanballat took another approach and attempted to threaten Nehemiah with false accusations. Nehemiah still refused to give in and then prayed unto God, asking Him to give him strength. Another man by the name of Shemaiah tried to get Nehemiah to disobey God based on fear but Nehemiah still obeyed God. Nehemiah, prayed and asked God to remember his enemies rather than enacting revenge or justice by himself.
I’ve been in ministry for 10 years and my dad has been in ministry for almost 30 years. We have seen many “Sanballats” in the church. They seem to be friendly in the outer appearance but they are devising evil and wickedness in their heart. They devise a plan to hurt their leaders secretly in the backroom. They purposely try to manipulate or bring fear into their leaders, trying to push their own personal agenda. They make false accusations and gossip with others about their leaders. I remember what my dad always said when it came to dealing with these wicked scorners. Pray for them. WHAT!? Pray for them? Dad are you serious? You want me to pray for these people causing so much pain and hurt in our family? In my ministry? To me? What in the world dad.
Yeah pray for them he said. My dad said pray first that the gospel transforms them. That their hearts soften and they seek repentance from the Lord. They seek reconciliation with you by the grace of God. When they ask for forgiveness, forgive them just as Christ forgave us. WHAT!? Dad come on. Yeah he is right. I mean Peter asked Jesus how many times do you forgive the brother that offended you, seven times? No, seventy times seven. Four hundred and ninety times you need to forgive. Oh my soul, you’re kidding me right? Nope.
Second, he said to pray for God and His gracious hand to deal with the matter, not you. We are not to seek revenge or justice, these are at the hand of God. We must simply pray to God and ask Him to deal with the matter. Let the Lord handle the scorners and those that attempt to oppress you, even in the church.
As much as that is so difficult for me, I realized my dad is right. At the end of the day, when we have a big project there is so much that we can take. We don’t need to add additional stress by dealing with difficult matters or people. Let the Lord handle them and the difficult circumstances. God’s gracious hand is upon us. We must also pray for those in the church that are EGRs (extra grace required) people. We must pray that extra grace falls upon them through the gospel and that their lives are slowly transforming in sanctification!
Proverbs 10
God will never leave the righteous or those that are saved. He will always protect and create a way. It says in verse 3 that “The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.”
We must always respond to difficult people with love. It says in verse 12, “Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers all wrongs.” Don’t let hatred control the situation. At the same time we must never let hatred lead us to slander others. It says in verse 18, “Whoever conceals hatred with lying lips and spreads slander is a fool.”