Practical applications

We often think of infiltration and espionage as dark and thrilling . . . spies lurking about with hats pulled low over their faces, furtively glancing about before walking quickly and purposefully away.
But we need to know that often the devil uses espionage! He will infiltrate the ranks of believers and church congregations with "secret agents" that profess to be Christians. But their hearts are really in the world, and they oppose godly men and women. They oppose them because just like Nehemiah, true men and women of God expose others' spiritual indifference and sin, either simply by example, or by confrontation when necessary.

Let's make some practical applications from chapter six of Nehemiah . . .

First, we should not put all of our confidence in our own work, but instead have confidence in the God who enables us to work. During these winter months, it's an ideal time to work here on the farm. The vegetation has died back and trees can be felled and briers cleared; areas that need mowing can be gotten to more easily; stones can be collected to make paths and allow cleared areas to be sown. It's nice to step back after a day or two of hard work and admire the progress! Wow, doesn't that fenceline look swell -- you can see the fence now. Those slopes look much better and will be mowed easily now.
It would have been tempting for Nehemiah to kick back and admire his new wall, don't ya think? Those stones look amazing - everyone worked so hard and they took great care to nestle the stones into the mortar and leave no holes or spaces. Look at the broad area there for soldiers to use in defending the city; looks great, doesn't it? And those gates? So proud of everyone who worked so diligently . . .
Nope.
Didn't happen. These ongoing problems and opposition from the enemies forced Nehemiah to stay alert. On his toes. Fighting the battles.
And trusting in the Lord.
Sometimes we mistakenly think that some one accomplishment or prize will solve all of our problems. We'll be able to rest and enjoy the success. We may think that a program or building project will solve all of the problems of our church. Wellllllll, it doesn't really work that way! No sooner have we achieved our goal (personally, or with the congregation) than other problems erupt like the bubbling mud pits at Yosemite Park. (Grin) Might even be more like a volcano.
Why?
Well, first because that is the way life is! And second, because God uses these things to keep us looking to Him and growing -- rather than kicking back, patting ourselves on the back, and trusting in OUR WORK. We need to remember to trust in Him!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart    and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,    and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Trust in the Lord and do good;    dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord,    and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord;    trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,    your vindication like the noonday sun. (Psalm 37:3-6)

Another application: don't expect perfection in this world!  We CAN expect God to accomplish significant advances for His kingdom through our trusting and our hard work, just like Nehemiah did by rebuilding the walls of the city of Jerusalem. But until our Lord and Savior comes back, we aren't going to hear "they lived happily ever after."  Even after the wall was completed, the enemy infiltrated and stirred up more trouble.
We cause ourselves problems when we look for perfection in the Christian community, too. After all, believers are called saints, right? They are perfect and sin-free, right? Well, no. (Grin) As one of our readers noted recently, if we hop from church to church looking for the perfect doctrine, fellowship, leaders, etc we will never find that perfect church! In fact, I would go out on a limb and state that we will never see a perfect church in this fallen world. If that is what we are searching for, we will soon quit in abject frustration! However, if we follow her advice, we can be well served: find a church that has many of the qualities we are looking for, and get involved to make it even better! We can trust God to use us to advance His kingdom; we should not fall into the trap of perfectionism.

Lastly, one final application for us -- if we compromise with the world, it hinders the work of the Lord. Remember what we saw about Tobiah? He and his son had intermarried with some of the Jewish nobles' families. Apparently, he had convinced them (my grandma would have said Tobiah "snowed" them!) that he was an awesome guy. This was pretty astonishing, considering how vehemently he opposed Nehemiah and the wall. Anyway, we'll see in later chapters that Nehemiah is gone "on leave" for a while, and when he comes back, he finds that Tobiah is living in the temple! (Don't worry, Nehemiah takes care of things.) It's a good reminder not to compromise on the important stuff!

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. (I John 2:15)

...don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. (James 4:4b)

Our study of chapter six is ending this week. The devil is indeed persistent, and will disguise his schemes quite well. We must discern and resist him -- when our Lord Jesus returns, we will have the ultimate triumph over this terrorist!