Focus and Distraction

In the sixth chapter of the book of Nehemiah, we find Nehemiah working on the wall in Jerusalem which he was reconstructing. He was making a lot of good progress, and all that remained was to set the doors in the gates.

But Nehemiah's enemies were not happy about the wall reconstruction project. They didn't like what Nehemiah was doing. They were miffed that he was on the verge of completing the job. All of their past threats and negative activities against Nehemiah had failed. But they decided to give it one final shot. They asked Nehemiah to come down from the wall to meet with them, although they really planned to kill him. But Nehemiah received divine discernment about their plans, and he rejected their offer to meet. In Nehemiah 6:2-3, Nehemiah says, "They were scheming to harm me; so I sent messengers to them with this reply: I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?"

Nehemiah was wise to their plan. He wasn't distracted by his enemies. He stayed focused on accomplishing what God wanted him to do.

It's the same for us. Our enemies - beginning with the devil - will try to distract us, threaten us, harass us, rough us up, and in any other way try to get us to fail in what God wants us to do. The attacks will be fast and furious at times. But we must keep our focus on the job at hand, and not be distracted by the enemy and his tactics.

God has a great project for you to do, just as with Nehemiah. Don't stop your work. Don't be distracted by the enemy. Finish the job. Stay focused. It worked for Nehemiah, and it will work for you, too.