Obstacles on the Road

OBSTACLES ON THE ROAD

“But it so happened, when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, that he was furious and very indignant, and mocked the Jews. And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, ‘What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish--stones that are burned?’” (Nehemiah 4:1-2)

I have traveled through many countries and many different types of roads. Most places try to provide good roads or at least good signals that make one aware that there are obstacles coming up. This is not the case between the towns of Ambato (Ecuador) and Baños in the Tungurahua province. There are so many speed bumps on the road that are not technically designed that, they make you not only slow down and stop but also hurt the bottom parts of one's vehicle. The worst part of it is that there are no signs telling you that there are obstacles coming up on the road.

That was the experience of Nehemiah when he returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls. He ran into some big obstacles. People began to make fun of him. They did not want the walls or the altar to be fixed, because that would have meant a return to the nation-wide worship and intercessional sacrifice through the high priest. Through their spiritual ignorance, those who opposed Nehemiah were confronting God trying to impose their timeline (can they do it in a day?) for the reconstruction. They were sure God could not use burned stones for the reconstruction of the walls.

One of the unfortunate realities in our Christian lives today is that we have allowed the secular world to influence us to the extent that God’s plans for us are almost unnoticeable. Besides the administration of time when we work (those of us who do it willfully) and sleep (most of us should dedicate more time to this activity), we have virtually abdicated our time to unwholesome entertainment and worthless pursuits that do not bring glory to our heavenly Father. Let us be aware and trust God to help us at the times when people make fun of us because God is the first priority in our lives. Let us define clearly our times of personal and family praise and worship. Let us not disregard the meetings with our congregation.

Most of all, let us trust God to forgive us so that being new creations in Christ we can use our past experiences (burned stones) and rebuild our walls. As we continue to make progress in this wonderful pilgrimage that God has shown us, we must remember that we will encounter obstacles in our path. Let us not allow them to stop us. -- Jorge Zambrano. Jorge and Denise have served for many years with HCJB. Pray for Jorge as he is now in hospice care due to a long battle with cancer.

God's WORD for YOU: Proverbs 23; Psalms 33-34; Acts 24

Great Quote: It is not the bee's [mere] touching of the flower that gathers honey, but her abiding for a time upon the flower that draws out the sweet. It is not he that reads most, but he that meditates most, that will prove the choicest, sweetest, wisest and strongest Christian.Thomas Brooks