I was speaking to a freemason buddy today on the phone about a situation he was dealing with in one of his masonic lodges. It was a situation where there was an element who wanted to control how their lodge ran without considering what the lodge was actually there to do. This element was more interested in power and influence than what it meant to be a freemason. He knew that those who ideologically agreed with him had the majority vote, but that the struggle and disharmony would never really stop with this power-hungry element. For that reason, he was breaking off with a group to form his own lodge and that way both camps could be free to pursue their fraternity without conflict. Sound familiar?
I shared a tad about what I was going through with my home church and how similar our situations sounded. He just said, "I am sure God is watching after you and will see you through all this."
A lot of the story of Nehemiah, and Ezra to a lesser extent, is a story about a faithful group obediently following a calling despite the objections of others and seeing the fruits of their faithfulness through the restoration in the temple. Chapter 4 is a continuation of those themes and the reactions of the Israelites can teach us a lot.
He said in the presence of his associates and of the army of Samaria, ‘What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore things? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish it in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish—and burnt ones at that?’ Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, ‘That stone wall they are building—any fox going up on it would break it down!’ (Nehemiah 4:2-3)
There is good reason to have doubts over establishing a church. Almost 1/3 of churches fail within their first 4 years. There are real challenges to forming and maintaining a stable congregation so on a very human level I would not blame anyone for having their doubts over what we are doing here at The Well. I wouldn't agree with them, but I'd understand their doubts.
So what are we to do? How do we respond in the face of adversity, doubt, or even taunting?
So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. After I looked these things over, I stood up and said to the nobles and the officials and the rest of the people, ‘Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your kin, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.’ (Nehemiah 4:13-14)
Nehemiah did two things here.
The first thing Nehemiah did was his due diligence. He took action on what he knew, given the resources God blessed him with, and ensured that his calling was secured. When I see this, I think about the legal and governmental actions we are taking now to establish our church and safeguard the administration of The Well. Rest assured that we are not venturing into the process haphazardly; we are carefully planning each step and phase of planting this church from how it is legally defined to its tax status to how its rolled out to the community. We are "manning the walls" and "rebuilding the gates" as we know is necessary to meet our mission and protect against any unanticipated challenges.
The second thing Nehemiah did was acknowledge the sovereignty of God and hold the faith. Nehemiah did not simply take the mentality that 'God helps those who help themselves'. He knew that no great thing would succeed without the blessing of God and so it was to God's divine sovereignty that he must look if Israel was to succeed. Similarly, as a church, we recognize that it is not our own preparations or plans that will lead to a successful church; it is our faith and devotion to a God who will see his plans come to fruition. That is the hope that we have and the foundation of this church.
As we continue to move forward, we must similarly ensure we are acting deliberately while also making certain that we are not relying on our own wisdom and talents for success. Success will be defined however God wills it and so long as we define success as achieving God's will, we can not fail.
DAILY PRAYER A Prayer for Success
God, help us to see success through your eyes and not our own. Help us to understand that victory is ultimately yours and that anything we do is simply a building block leading to the restoration of your kingdom. We know that there may be individuals who do not understand what we are doing or doubt that it will be successful, but help us to focus on the work to be completed rather than the thoughts of our critics. We look to you and rejoice in those whom you have brought... and will bring... in our lives to join us in our journey. In your plan we trust, Amen.
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