Drawing Near…I Can’t Come Down

READ: Nehemiah 6

As I continue to meditate on why drawing near to the Lord is good for me, my heart and mind has been so pumped and energized with this one fact that “I must answer and fulfill the call, I’ve come too far and I can’t stop now”. 

Many of you can identify with the fact that the tides of distractions, diversion, discouragement, discord, and dissensions seem to keep rising around the world, why; because the days are evil and the time of the Lord’s return is drawing near (Ephesians 5:16).  We have an enemy who is crafty and cunning, one who takes pleasure in distractions because he uses it with the intent do mischief against us.  The enemy knows that there is power in unity.  There is power in born-again and spirit-filled people who have the same mind and who are committed, determined, and focused on doing God’s will. 

In 2015, the Lord led us into a year-long study of the Book of Nehemiah and I must say (for me) it was a blessing beyond description.  Today I’m drawing again, from the wells of life, leadership, love and legacy that are found within this book.  Our brother Nehemiah had a heart to seek the Lord and he desired to be heard of the Lord (Nehemiah 1:4-11).  He needed to draw near unto the Lord to be able to hear Him speak and to be able to hear His instructions concerning how to help his people who were under great affliction and reproach (Nehemiah 1:3).

If we mean to be true women of God, women of virtue, we must position ourselves in such a way that we can really hear the voice of the Lord.  For too long we’ve been hearing our flesh speak allowing our emotions and feelings to do the walking, speaking and listening but this is not what God wants from us.  To properly hear from the Lord we must walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-18).

Let me pause here by saying this, don’t think it strange (for those of you who have set your mind to draw nearer to the Lord) that the enemy is fighting you on every side.  He is pulling out all the stops, fighting viciously and recklessly.  He is fighting you and I because he knows that for some of us breakthrough, deliverance, change and a shift is on the horizon. 

Keep your eyes upon the Lord and don’t look back.  Don’t allow yourself to be pulled into the negativity, trivialness, foolishness, insecurities, and folly of the carnally-minded men and women in the church and of those who are living in sin.  Satan comes to steal, kill, destroy, instigate, agitate, violate and frustrate the people of God to the point that we give up (John 10:10).  But we have the power to say NO, the power to walk on and to resist the devil, in Jesus’ Name (James 4:7). 

Have you ever wondered why Nehemiah of all people got so stirred up to do the work of the Lord? Why did this mean so much to him?  Why was he so moved and so concerned about the people of God and less concerned about himself? Why would he risk his own life, position, and status for a people who in some respect were being judged by the Lord because of their disobedience?

Nehemiah put his own ideas and plans to the side to make himself available for the great work of God.  He wasn’t gorilla glued to the past nor stuck on what Israel used to be and what they used to have before the captivity.  He saw the ruins of Jerusalem, the physical and emotional state of his people as an opportunity and a call for true reform, repentance and revival.  It was a time for the people of God to draw near again to the God they had forsaken.

The work was so great because it rallied together a people who were broke, busted and disgusted.  It created unity.  It brought them back to the central focus.  It revealed those who were for them and those who were against them.  And it shows us even today that not everyone who claims to be a part of the church is of the true church of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Let me make this plain.  Don’t expect a standing ovation; nor encouragement from people like that when you are doing the will of God in humility and with enthusiasm. 

These are the Sanballats, the Tobiahs, and the nobles of the Tekoites who would rather see you abandon the call of God than fulfill it (Nehemiah 3:5; 4:1-6).  They are angry at the thought that God may use someone like you for a great work.  They are like the scribes and Pharisees, hypocritical, shutting up the kingdom of God to others by their man made traditions, doctrines and expectations and they likewise will not go into the kingdom themselves and they dare not submit completely to the will of God (Matthew 23:13). 

Don’t you come down, don’t you stop doing the will of God just because others would rather fuss, complain, scrutinize, and covet those things that the Lord has placed in you to do. We’ve got to get close up to God to see the details and stop thinking we can read fine print at a distance. 

Don’t follow Him at a distance, get closer, draw nearer, and endeavor to go higher. We’ve got to get closer to one another and work together putting aside all pride, prejudices and pretenses.  Such behavior blocks the flow of God, ultimately grieving and frustrating the work of the Spirit.

There is an appointed time to get things done. A time and a season where His grace and favor is upon us to get it done.  Were on God’s time, not our own. 

Are we (you and I) doing a great work for the Lord? 

Are we doing the kind of work that is so anointed, so ordained and so inspired of God that if it ceases to be done it would cause a great loss to the body of Christ and to the world at large? 

Woman of God, be encouraged, be lifted up, be purposeful, be committed to kingdom business, be about soul-winning. 

Don’t come down from doing a great work no matter what is presented before you.  In Jesus Name.