I Cannot Come Down (Go Read It: Nehemiah)

Have you ever read Nehemiah?

I found myself engrossed in his story last year while my husband was teaching on it and I was trying to keep up with our students as they read through the Old Testament.  A few Sundays later our pastor preached on a passage from the book of Nehemiah and I was delighted to know this amazing character was getting some airtime from the pulpit.

For those who have yet to be introduced, here are the Coles notes:

Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the King of Persia.  After receiving word that the wall of Jerusalem had been torn down and the gates to the city burned, Nehemiah was compelled to take a leave of absence from his position to return to his homeland and take charge of rebuilding the wall around the city of his ancestors.

Long story short, the King grants him leave and Nehemiah becomes foreman for the project.  His task is not without opposition however, primarily from some bullies by the names of Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem the Arab.  They spend their time mocking Nehemiah and plotting to thwart his efforts; trying to get him to quit the work.   At one point they send him a message asking Nehemiah to meet them in a nearby village in attempt to capture and harm him.  Nehemiah is onto their scheme however and sends back this message:

"I am doing a great work and cannot come down!"

And so he stays put.  On the wall.  His wall.  The wall he believes he has been called to rebuild.  A great work.

(This is where I abandon my colored pens and skip straight from objective observation of the text to wide-eyed, giddy application.)  Did you hear that?  He's doing a great work and is determined to stay on that wall.  Others try to convince him that the job is not worthwhile, that it is too difficult, that he has not the stamina to complete the task and yet he stays put on the wall.  And here's a guy who is used to a lofty position in the King's court - now spending his days doing dirty, exhausting manual labor.  Do you wonder if he ever longed for his glory days at the head table of the King?

 I think Moms might feel like Nehemiah sometimes.  Here we stand on this wall of raising children, knowing it's a great work and yet faced with a hundred temptations bullying us to climb down.   A desire for recognition, a longing for identity, dreams of successes and accomplishment.  Sometimes simple weariness or feelings of failure and defeat are enough to convince us that we're "doing a lousy job up there anyway-might as well come down."  And let's not even get into the "loss" of identities or positions once held...

Maybe all we need to do is stay on the wall.  It's not necessarily glamorous.  It doesn't pay the bills or garner notoriety.  Sometimes it's easier to go than stay.  But raising children is indeed a great work, and it's a testament to your character if you can muster up the courage it takes to stay put, focus on the job to be done and tackle it one seemingly menial task at a time.

Later on, when the wall was finally finished, all those who were causing Nehemiah grief came to realize that this work had been done with the help of God.  And isn't that how it has to be?  How am I ever going to continue in this task of mothering without His help?  One thing is certain...this wall won't ever get rebuilt if I don't stay on it. 

So that's the story of Nehemiah...go read it.

And answer me this: what's your wall?  Perhaps you need to hear something today:

You're doing a great work.  Don't come down.  Stay on your wall.