Your ‘Great Work’
21 So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from break of dawn until the stars came out. 22 I also said to the people at that time, “Let every man and his servant pass the night inside Jerusalem, so that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day.” 23 So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me ever took off our clothes; each kept his weapon in his right hand. Nehemiah 4:21-23
Now when it was reported to Sanballat and Tobiah and to Geshem the Arab and to the rest of our enemies that I had built the wall and that there was no gap left in it (though up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm. Nehemiah 6:1-2 (NRSV)
So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it to come down to you?” Nehemiah 6:3 (NRSV)
They sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner. Nehemiah 6:4
* There are things in your life that, if you don´t deal with them, they have the potential to destroy it.
So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. Nehemiah 6:15
And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem; for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. Nehemiah 6:16 (NRSV)
What does it take to finish our Great Work?
They replied, “The survivors there in the province who escaped captivity are in great trouble and shame; the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been destroyed by fire.” Nehemiah 1:3
1) Acknowledge the situation.
6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Both I and my family have sinned. 7 We have offended you deeply, failing to keep the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances that you commanded your servant Moses. Nehemiah 1:6-7 (NRSV)
2) Confess our rebellion.
O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man!” Nehemiah 1:11 (NRSV)
3) Put yourself in God´s hands.
3 “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down...
15 the wall was finished... in fifty-two days. Nehemiah 6:3a; 15 (NRSV)
4) Focus totally in Your Great Work.
