The letter included false reports and rumors against Nehemiah and his workers. Is criticism stealing your focus and providing distraction?Īfter receiving Nehemiah’s first refusal, his enemies sent four more invitations and the last was an open letter given to Nehemiah from the hand of a servant. Guard against allowing curiosity and the time-consuming distractions it can provide overtake you.
Who or what is providing a distraction for you? Do you know the character of it? Will it compromise your convictions… purity… fidelity… commitments?
Not all distractions are bad in and of themselves, but they can lead to places and patterns of life we never planned or intended. He knew the outcome of chasing the distraction because he knew the character of the invitation and those behind it. Nehemiah knew “they intended to do me harm” (Nehemiah 6:2b ESV). Open a door for new opportunity?… Allow Him to satisfy the concerns of his enemies? Not likely. Would Nehemiah’s invitation to meet lead to the establishment of a peace accord?. We’ve all heard the adage, “Curiosity killed the cat.” It can prompt us to think, explore and investigate, but it can also open doors to vulnerability and evil fantasy. What are some of the common voices of distraction we hear and face today? Here are few suggestions:Ĭuriosity can be fun. When distractions present themselves (as they often do on a daily basis), are you tempted to respond? Nehemiah had convictional focus that refused distraction and compromise. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” (Nehemiah 6:3 ESV).ĭistraction is the temptation to give the focus and energy needed for something highly important to something that is often quite insignificant.
Nehemiah’s RSVP? “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. The plain of Ono, about 25 miles northwest of Jerusalem, was not a far distance, but far enough from the project for Nehemiah’s enemies to take advantage. Nehemiah’s enemies sent an invitation - a distraction - to Nehemiah: “Come and let us meet together at the plain of Ono” (Nehemiah 6:2 ESV). In Nehemiah 6, we are told the wall was almost complete except for the placement of doors within the gates - nearing the finish line, but not quite there. Nehemiah - a visionary leader and man of God - left his life of service in Persia to return to his homeland and provide leadership for the rebuilding of a wall around Jerusalem, a wall destroyed more than a century earlier. In ancient times, Nehemiah addressed and resisted insurmountable distractions while seeking to fulfill the mission and plan of God. Interestingly, the distractions with which we struggle today are not new. These are different times and focus can easily blur amid the challenge of trying to know when this pandemic season will end and normalcy - even a new normalcy - will begin.
Sundays I preach to a tiny camera lens to those huddled around technology devices and honor worship distancing. I check stats and national updates by the hour. The biggest impact of the coronavirus pandemic for those semi-sequestered in their homes is probably not the fear of contracting COVID-19, but the ever-present distraction of it.Įvery day I wake up thinking about the affects this could have on my family and others.
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