Let the Table be Wide

HERE is the spoke word by Barak Bomani that he shared in church yesterday.

Nehemiah face opposition from the outside. Political leaders in his area made trumped up charges against him, tried to strike fear into the people of God, and terrorized the people with their show of military force. They were trying to stop Nehemiah from rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem to protect all the poor refugees who were fleeing there. Nehemiah’s response when his enemies tried to distract him with endless debates:

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?” Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave them the same answer. - Nehemiah 6:3-4

Nehemiah also faced an opposition from the inside. Within the people who were doing the rebuilding, a mindset started to spread. This is too hard. There’s too much work. We’re too small. We’re not enough. Here’s how the scripture puts is:

Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, “The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.” - Nehemiah 4:10

Protecting from those inside voices was just as hard, if not harder for Nehemiah… and yet he persevered. He kept leading, kept building, kept taking one small step in front of another. In your life right now, is it the inside voice or the outside voices that are discouraging you the most? Talk with Jesus plainly about the kind of encouragement and strength you need to endure.

Consider listening to Barak’s spoken word as a way to find some encouragement.