Staying the course despite opposition and distractions

Nehemiah

Nehemiah received a vision from God to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem.

Before the work began, three enemies – Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem – mocked the Jews for “rebelling against the king.”

Nehemiah, the governor of Jerusalem, told them that God would grant the Jews success.

As the Jews built, Sanballat mocked them again.

The Jews prayed to God.

When the wall was half finished, Sanballat and Tobiah planned to fight against Jerusalem. At Nehemiah’s command, the Jews set up a defense.

Then Nehemiah discovered that wealthy Jews were over-taxing their kin, and ordered that practice to be stopped.

Next, Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem tried to seduce Nehemiah to stop building the wall with slick words. He wouldn’t bite.

Shemaiah, a prophet, then tried to convince Nehemiah to shut himself in the temple to protect himself against the Jews’ enemies. The governor saw through the ruse.

Despite all the opposition, the Jews built the wall in only 52 days.

Nehemiah had a plan and a purpose. He kept his eyes on the goal, and finished the job.

Moses

Moses, at about 80 years old, received a new commission from God: Return to Egypt and lead God’s people out of there. Once he realized God wasn’t changing his mind, he did as instructed.

Pharoah was not pleased. He made the Jewish slaves work even harder. The Jews got upset at Moses for interfering.

Moses, with encouragement from God, returned to Pharoah.

Ten plagues followed. Moses did not waver.

Eventually, Pharoah allowed the Jews to leave, then chased after them – and his army got drowned in the Red Sea.

Moses kept at it. God’s will was done.

So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being.

Deuteronomy 10:12-13

Noah

God told Noah to build an ark on dry land. Even though that made no sense, he did it anyway.

The ark saved Noah’s life, and the lives of his family.

Joseph

Joseph kept his eyes on God, even when his master’s wife tried to seduce him – and produced what she said was proof that he tried to seduce her. Without a trial, Joseph’s master tossed him in jail and left him there.

While in jail, Joseph interpreted the dreams of two other inmates. When they got out – one was killed, the other lived, as Joseph predicted – Joseph was forgotten.

Two years later, Joseph was released when Pharoah needed a dream interpreted – and no one could do it. Except Joseph.

During his years of down time in jail, Joseph talked with God and was ready when the time came for him to become a leader.

David

David’s son Absalom tried to kill him, as did King Saul – both of them knowing that David was God’s anointed successor to the throne. David had two chances to kill Saul. The people close to him urged him to do it. He would not.

David waited for God’s timing. He would not force the issue.

Eventually, David did become king.

Job

Job had everything of value taken from him – his wealth, family and his health.

Job’s response?

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

And then, this:

“Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah, one of many Old Testament prophets, had a singular message: Repent and turn to God, or he will punish you.

The Jews of his day didn’t want to hear that. No one likes their sins pointed out to them.

But Jeremiah offered hope. Repent, and God will forgive. If not, he will punish.

Truth is truth, whether anyone listens or not.

Jeremiah was imprisoned and tortured for preaching an unpopular message. He never stopped, even though very few people listened to him.

Daniel

Daniel was thrown into a lion’s den. His friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were tossed into a blazing hot furnace because none of them would worship the king. Instead, they worshiped God alone.

John the Baptist

John the Baptist angered King Herod and his wife for criticizing an adulterous marriage (Herod married his brother’s wife). John was imprisoned for that but would not soften his message. He knew truth.

John paid for that with his life.

Stephen

Ten of the 12 apostles were martyred for following Jesus. (Judas Iscariot hung himself, and John was exiled and likely died there.)

Stephen, a helper in the daily distribution of food for the apostles, was the first Christian martyr.

His last words as he died?

The same as Jesus’ response on the cross: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”

Paul

The apostle Paul, after his conversion, was shipwrecked, stoned, beaten, kicked out of many towns, starved, imprisoned … yet his faith never wavered.

Why?

“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Saints

Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the faith of Jesus.

And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.”

Revelation 14:12-13

Hearing God’s voice

“I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”

Elijah, speaking to God, in 1 Kings 19:10

Elijah, one of the greatest of God’s Old Testament prophets, had just come through one of the most dramatic scenes in world history – a faceoff between himself and 850 idol worshippers under the direction of the evil king Ahab of Israel.

One vs. 850. God vs. Baal and Asherah.

God won.

After that emotional high, Elijah crashed. Afraid for his life, he ran more than 200 miles “to Horeb the mount of God” (1 Kings 19:8), which is where God gave Moses the 10 Commandments. While there, Elijah had a conversation with God, which included the quote at the beginning of this blog.

Except that Elijah was exaggerating. He wasn’t the only one left.

Not truly alone

I get it, Elijah.

Sometimes I feel very alone, too. No one understands me. No one can possibly comprehend my struggles, my deepest thoughts. Each of us does our own thing, and no one truly has time for the deep things of God.

Perhaps I am exaggerating, too.

Earlier, Elijah had met another prophet, Obadiah, who hid 100 prophets in two caves, to save them from Ahab’s evil hand (1 Kings 18:4). So, at least 101 prophets besides Elijah who feared the living God were still around.

Then, during the conversation between God and Elijah at Mount Horeb, God promised that “… I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal …” (1 Kings 10:18)

Elijah was not all alone. It seemed like it, I’m sure, after he and God by themselves defeated 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah.

The king, Ahab, and his even more evil wife, Jezebel, wanted Elijah’s head, and that’s why he fled the scene. It’s why Obadiah hid 100 prophets even before the showdown. Evil reigned, and it was violent and deadly.

I’m sure the 7,000 who did not bow the knee to Baal practiced their faith quietly, which is why Elijah did not see them. They had to, or they would die.

A different perspective

Am I the only one who sometimes feels like a lone ranger? I call this blog the Liberal Conservative. I see life differently than most people. I have a liberal side, and a conservative side. In today’s polarized political culture, there’s little room for people like me.

We aren’t the loud ones. We don’t make headlines. We get un-friended by people who don’t understand us.

I say “we” and “us.” Am I alone, or are there a few of you out there who get what I’m saying?

Ahab’s government was very evil, opposing the living God deliberately.

I don’t see the U.S. government like that, even though some of you do. Neither political party represents good, and neither represents evil. There are elements of both in both.

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Those of you who claim God is on the Republicans’ side: Explain this flag, which flies just a few miles from my house. You share this sentiment, even if you don’t approve of the language. Be honest.

Like Elijah, perhaps we need to leave town for awhile too. See life from a different perspective. Get our bearings. Reconnect with what’s real and true.

It’s easy to follow the crowd, especially when it’s loud and persuasive.

The sound of silence

Before God talked with Elijah on Mount Horeb, something else happened first. God said he would pass by. First came a “great wind.” God was not there. Next came an earthquake, and God was not their either. Then, a fire, “but the Lord was not in the fire.”

Finally, there was “a sound of sheer silence.” How do you hear silence? Elijah heard it, enough that God showed up right there (1 Kings 19:11-13).

God calmed Elijah down. He didn’t come the way the world wanted Him to come – loud and obvious. (He did in the showdown, but not to Elijah personally.)

God put all the chatter aside. All the bluff. All the cacophony.

Silence.

When was the last time we were silent before the living God?

Or silent for any reason?

Turn off the radio. No television. No video games or videos. Mute the cell phone.

There’s a reason nature is synonymous with peacefulness.

Silence can happen in your living room, too. Just turn everything off.

Can you hear the “sound of sheer silence?”

Facing silence

Those of us who know loneliness know this sound very well. Too well, probably.

Because there is so much sound in our society, no one is listening. No one. We are distracted, impatient, irritated.

If we outlawed electronics in cars and pickups, I wonder if we would become better drivers. I don’t mean distracted driving the way law enforcement means it: taking our eyes off the road to change the station or text someone. I mean: silence. No input from talk shows or music or movies or anything. Just you (and any passengers in your vehicle).

What would you see? What would you hear?

We don’t want to go there, do we? That’s why we’re all about noise. Distractions. Sound bites. Tell me what I want to hear. Leave me alone. My version of the truth is the only right one.

Perhaps more of us are alone than we realize. We just don’t want to face it.

Elijah ran away – a long way – to a place where he knew God was. He waited for God to show up.

God did show up, but not in the way he expected. With a message he didn’t expect, either.

He wasn’t alone. Not really. Others out there were facing the same fears he was, with the same longing for God’s protection.

Elijah had to be encouraged by that.

God, in addition to meeting Elijah directly, gave him the names of several leaders who would defend God even in the face of strong opposition. Elijah was not alone.

I see life differently. I struggle to communicate that. I play the loner card in my mind often. God, You created me so You understand me, but no one on Earth does.

But in another part of the Bible, God said this, through Solomon:

What has been is what will be,

and what has been done is what will be done;

there is nothing new under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 1:9

I am unique, but I’m not.

Loneliness is not new. It’s been around at least since Elijah’s day.

May God give us what we need to live life to the fullest.