Monday, January 19, 2026
When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious. He mocked the Jews before his colleagues and the powerful men of Samaria and said, “What are these pathetic Jews doing? Can they restore it by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they ever finish it? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?” Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, “Indeed, even if a fox climbed up what they are building, he would break down their stone wall!” Listen, our God, for we are despised. Make their insults return on their own heads and let them be taken as plunder to a land of captivity. Do not cover their guilt or let their sin be erased from your sight, because they have angered the builders. So we rebuilt the wall until the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had the will to keep working. Nehemiah 4:1-6 CSB
Abundant Obedience = Abundant Life
Yesterday Pastor Jim concluded our series on Nehemiah called Abundant. Our Key Truth is God is an abundant God and calls His people to live out of His abundance for His glory and the good of others. In the book of Nehemiah, we see the abundant, God-sized vision that God gave Nehemiah in the face of the sorrow as he found out about the destruction and desolation in Jerusalem, his homeland. In Chapter two we saw the abundant generosity of the Israelites as Nemiah arrives in his homeland and starts rebuilding. Yesterday we learned of the abundant obedience of the Israelites, pressing on in the face of ridicule and threats.
The Israelites faced opposition from three powerful local men as they build. They had likely been intimidated by these men many times, including the scorn and intimidation used to prevent the rebuilding from starting. Now that the work underway they were angered and annoyed, exhibiting rage and ridicule against the Israelites as they worked. The three men had been bullying through fear and intimidation and now Nehemiah shows up, rallies the Israelites and leads an incredibly productive crew of people successfully. The three bullies’ poor leadership skills are exposed, and their false sense of power is threatened.
The three men also cast doubt against the Israelites, filling their minds with words of discouragement about their quality of work and ability to finish. They purposefully set out to create doubt in the minds of the Israelites that they could do the job. The Israelites became discouraged, but Nehemiah rallied them again - for the people had the will to keep working. Despite the opposition and the testing of their obedience, their faith was evidenced in their perseverance. Pastor Jim said they worked with one hand and held a weapon in the other because the Sanballat, Tobiah, and the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and throw it into confusion. But the Israelites rebuilt the wall until the entire wall was joined together up to half its height...
In the face of their obedience, they faced resistance. They were ridiculed and mocked, bullied and intimidated. They persisted in their obedience and finished the wall. Like the enemies of the Israelites Satan will do whatever he can to stop us from doing the work of the Lord. He will ridicule and mock our obedience, cast doubt and try to stop us in our tracks. He will try to tear down what has been built in the name of the Lord. He will try to create confusion in the body of Christ and in our personal lives that cause us to freeze, distracted by his lies so that we are not focusing on our faith, trust and obedience to keep moving forward, especially when we are proving effective to the Kingdom of God.
What can we do when we feel stuck, ridiculed, mocked and doubt our ability to carry out the work of the vision? from stepping out in faith? Like the Israelites our first line of defense in every scenario is to pray – above all else. After they rebuilt the wall, there was a national confession and sin and dedication to God. There was renewal in their community and revival in their hearts. While they stood in their places, they read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a fourth of the day and spent another fourth of the day in confession and worship of the Lord their God. Nehemiah 9:3
.How does obedience lead to an abundant life with God?
The true reward of a life of obedience comes with the presence of the Holy Spirit. Bill Hull said “Obedience is where the Holy Spirit meets us.” When we step out in faith the Holy Spirit meets us with the resources we need to keep walking the path that leads to abundant life. An abundant life with God only comes with trust and obedience, and it leads to renewal and revival. Abundant life is ours as children of God but only through abundant obedience – surrender in every area of our lives as we live obediently for him in all we do and say.
