This past week, there was much turmoil in our nation. I began thinking and talking with the Lord about how what we are seeing in our world could be much like what is happening in the spiritual, in our homes, in our relationships, and more. Unrest. Taking sides. Unwillingness to work together. Unhelpful words spoken. Violence. Lies. Manipulation. The list could go on and on.
So, as I sat down to get myself ready for my weekly prayer meeting, called DayToPray, every Thursday, at 3pm on my Facebook LIVE, I just asked the Lord to reveal to me what He wanted me to say to those who would join me in prayer. I believe the Lord said to me that we do not need to get distracted from the work, and He pointed me to Nehemiah 4.
Now if you know the story, Nehemiah had been given permission to go back to his homeland and rebuild the walls that had been destroyed through the captivity. While working on rebuilding the wall, there were other leaders who began to ridicule, make fun of, and speak harsh words to the people and to Nehemiah. The Bible says that the first ting he did was pray.
If you haven't, maybe the first thing you need to do in the worrisome and tumultuous circumstances you find yourself in is to pray. Pray first...before you do anything else. Pray. They continued their blatant disrespect and obnoxious and degrading comments and even starting conspiring to come together and fight against Jerusalem. But they prayed and God gave them a strategy for protecting themselves. They stationed a guard night and day. But even the returning from exile began to get weary and afraid.
But Nehemiah exclaimed, "Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.” So with a weapon in one hand and a hammer in the other, they stayed up on the wall and continue to build.
God placed His sons and daughters here to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth and build upon it here. This is called The Church. "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
My friends, don't get distracted by what is going on. It is a diversion because your enemy knows his time is short.
Pray.
Pay Attention to Strategies the Lord gives you.
Partner with others to do the work.
Put on your armor.
This is not a time to be afraid. We have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and a sound mind. Stay on the wall. Don't come down. Do the work of an evangelism. Keep bringing the Kingdom to Earth. This is our co-mission with Jesus.
Stay up on the wall
And don’t come down
We got too much work to do
No time to turn around
With a hammer in one hand
And a weapon in the other
Sister and Brother, heed the call
Stay up on the wall.
In the book of Nehemiah
The building had begun
And they worked all day 24/7
Until the work was done
Well I know that they got tired
But they pressed on anyway
And if they could still remind us
I believe we’d hear them say
Now the day is fast approaching
We’re living in the time
When you must stand up and be counted
If you’re on the Lord’s side
Cause He’s looking for an army
Of true and faithful ones
To be building up His kingdom
Until His kingdom comes
So be bold, be strong
You gotta hold fast, you gotta hold on
Though the enemy desires to conquer and destroy
But greater is He that’s in us than he that’s in the world
Stay up on the wall
Don’t come down
We got too much work to do
No time to turn around
With a hammer in one hand
And a weapon in the other
My sister, my brother, stay up on the wall -Babbie Mason-