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Developing Holy Passion: A Courageous Soul

The sixty-seven-year-old man stood on a curb as he watched his life’s work burn up in December of 1914. Adding insult to injury, his property was only insured for $238,000, far less than the $2 million worth of damage. His twenty-four-year-old son, Charles, said, “My heart ached for him. He was sixty-seven, no longer a young man, and everything was going up in flames.” When Charles found his father, he was surprised by his dad’s request. He said, “Find your mother and bring her here. She will never see anything like this as long as she lives.” The next morning the old man gathered his employees at the charred ruins and said, “There is great value in disaster. All of our mistakes are burned up. Thank God we can start anew.” Three weeks later, Thomas Edison delivered his first phonograph. Disaster and disappointment can destroy us or refine us. The choice is ours to make.

There is a myth going around and we have bought into it. It is a deadly myth. Here it is: If you do what God wants you to do, if you are faithful, if you spend time with God and step out in faith and you are the kind of Christian you know you really need or ought to be, things are going to really work out great for you.

How could God not want your family to turn out right, your job to come out right and your health to stay well? IT IS A MYTH.

I think unconsciously perhaps many of us have come to believe that if we do life God’s way He will cause our lives to work out our way. If you buy into that you are set up for a major problem.

I had just made the deepest personal commitment of my life. I had followed my holy passion. . . and I was discouraged, disappointed, and disillusioned.” God had called me to be a pastor and I was in my first church in French Lick, Indiana.

Picture of church

At the end of two years in the middle of the church growth movement it dawned on me that if your weren’t running 200 in attendance you were a loser. In many ways we were happy making $5200 a year. The church increased from 15 to about 45 in three years. The income of the church doubled. Levi was born during our three years there. There was good with the bad but I got disillusioned. I fell into the trap of looking around at everyone else and how they were doing and then judging what I thought God was doing or not doing through me.

Journal page

I was immature and I became very discouraged. I think I bought into the myth that if you just serve God the best you know how He will always make it work out right.

A Common Pitfall: A False Expectation

A Timeless Axiom: Our greatest personal commitments and spiritual victories are almost always followed by periods of intense opposition.

Moses: God calls him and says, “Go free my people.” He gets a couple of miracles, Pharoah get really mad and his own people that he is leading begin to grumble and complain that things were better before he started leading.

Paul: God called him and he made a huge commitment and what happened? He was beaten at least three times, he was in a shipwreck and in prison.

Jesus is a good model: He fulfilled the Father’s will and what happened to Him? They killed Him.

We get the idea that if you walk by faith everything is going to be better. We sometimes think that if we just make an effort to get closer to God or walk closer to Him your life will be full of havoc.

I Timothy 3 “All those who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

Jesus: “In the world you have tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome the world.”

Jesus never promised that when we walk wholeheartedly with Him and when we have holy passion and our priorities are straight, we live by faith and our time and talents and money are aligned with the will of God that everything would just be fine. What He promised is that He would be with us and that He would empower us and give us peace and that we would bear fruit.

Nehemiah: Dislocated Heart, Broken Spirit, Radical Faith, Strategic Plan, Personal Commitment.

We are going to be looking today at Chapter 4 as we finish this series but you need to read chapters 5 and 6.

Opposition = Nehemiah 4 - 6

This is important because some of you have been having stirrings inside of you that are going to lead you to step out and do something big for God and His agenda. You need to know that discouragement is something that often comes to those who are doing something for God. How are you going to handle it?

1 When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, 2 and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, "What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?" 3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, "What they are building—if even a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones!" Nehemiah 4:1-3

It is not unusual to face ridicule when you are trying to do something for God. The goal is to get you to stop, lose heart and give up. The ridicule is aimed at your worth. It is aimed at your value. You can’t do this. You don’t have what it takes. You’re just fooling yourself. These Jews! These feeble people.

Don’t most of us have the messages playing already in our minds? Most of us have a predisposition to already think bad about ourselves. Most of us already think we aren’t worthy. What happens when someone starts questioning what you’re trying to do? You start questioning yourself and if you are not careful you will find yourself saying things like, “Your right, I don’t know what I was thinking. I guess I can’t do it.” You will become contented to go back to the status quo and seek tranquility.

That is the enemy. Discouragement is one of the most powerful weapons that our enemy has to use against us. He loves for us to look inwardly and focus on ourselves and get discouraged and run the other direction.

Discouragement is like learning to survive in the boxing ring. Punches are going to be thrown. You will be hit by them. How you learn to absorb the hits is critical to long term survival. Don’t let the jab of ridicule detour you from God’s will for your life. How do you respond?

1. Round #1 - The Enemy’s “First Punch” – Ridicule and criticism

4 Hear us, O our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of [a] the builders. 6 So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.” Nehemiah 4:4-6

The “jab” of ridicule and criticism vs. 1-3

Nehemiah’s response = Our example vs. 4-6

         a. He prayed: Take it to God          b. He persisted: Don’t Quit

Robert Morrison hit the coast of China around 1804. He proceeded to spend the rest of his life mastering and then translating the Bible into Chinese and the Mandarin language. He was ridiculed and persecuted. Every time he left his home he was verbally or physically assaulted. When he died at he was buried in an obscure grave off the coast of China. It was his courage that led to the opening of the message of Christ in China.

2. Round #2 - The Enemy’s “Second Punch” -- Discouragement

The “upper cuts” of discouragement vs. 7-12

7 But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem's walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. 8 They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. 9 But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat. Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, the strength of the labors is giving out, and there is so much rubble that cannot rebuild the wall. Also our enemies said, “Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work.” Then the Jews who live near them came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”

There is a cloud of discouragement over these people.

Four Causes Of Discouragement - Key Word

  1. Loss of strength. “the strength of the labors is giving out.” - Fatigue
  2. Loss of vision “there is so much rubble.” - Perspective
  3. Loss of confidence “we cannot rebuild the wall.” - Faith
  4. Loss of security. “the enemy will surprise attack.” - Fear



Loss of strength: Fatigue

Are you discouraged in your marriage? Are you discouraged with some of your kids? Are you discouraged in your singleness or about being single? Are you discouraged in your relationship with Christ? Are you discouraged with your health? Are you discouraged about school? Are you discouraged about a relationship or a friendship? Are you discouraged about how something is going with work?

When you get discouraged enough you will quit. People do it all the time. They check out as parents, they walk away from commitments, they are overcome at work and if they are not careful they will let a season of discouragement take them out of the fight.

A young father was in seminary and working to try to support his family. One day the class ended and he just kept sitting there oblivious to the fact that the class had ended. The professor came up to him and put his hand on his shoulder. The professor said, “I think you are tired. Don’t make any important decisions in the next few days. Go home and rest. Take a few days off school. Take your wife out to eat and most of all rest.” The young student said, “I was half way through seminary and I was on the verge of deciding that I just couldn’t do it. It was the best advice I ever received.” Fatigue makes you vulnerable. Fatigue makes you look at things and feel overwhelmed. No one is going to make you regain your energy and strength but know this when you are fatigued you will often make really bad decisions that will effect more than yourself.

Isaiah 40:31 “but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Matthew 11:28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

3. Nehemiah’s response teaches us how to “come off the ropes” and “rule the ring.” vs. 13-23

“ Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows. After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”

Nehemiah is helping them gain some perspective.

15 When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work.

16 From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah 17 who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, 18 and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me.

19 Then I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. 20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!"

21 So we continued the work with half the men holding spears, from the first light of dawn till the stars came out. 22 At that time I also said to the people, "Have every man and his helper stay inside Jerusalem at night, so they can serve us as guards by night and workmen by day." 23 Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he went for water. [b]


Four Ways To Overcome Discouragement

  1. Be proactive!
  2. Remember who’s on your team! Robert Morrison that I mentioned earlier was asked if he really thought he could make a difference in China and he replied, “I don’t know about me but I suspect God will.”
  3. Fight! Fight! Fight!
  4. Never fight alone!



My heart is sunk. . . . It seemed to me I should never have any success among the Indians. My soul was weary of my life; I longed for death, beyond measure."

So wrote David Brainerd, describing his early weeks as a missionary to Native Americans at the beginning of the 1700s. Things didn't improve much for the first two years, in fact. He felt his prospects of winning converts "as dark as midnight."

Three years into the work, though, he finally witnessed a revival among the Indians of Crossweesung in New England, and after another year and a half, the number of converts numbered 150--not much by today's mass evangelistic standards, but profoundly significant in his day. Unfortunately, Brainerd died after only five years on the mission field, at age 29.

After Brainerd's death, Jonathan Edwards--whom some consider America's greatest theologian--published Brainerd's journals. These were read widely in America and Europe. In fact, William Carey, the "father of modern missions," the man who ignited the modern Protestant missionary movement, which has been responsible for millions upon millions of conversions worldwide, pointed to Brainerd's journals as a key source of his inspiration to take up the missionary life.

Who, then, can judge whether our work is worthwhile? Certainly we cannot when we're in the midst of discouragement. Citation: Ruth Tucker, From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biographical History of Christian Missions (Zondervan, 1983), pp. 90-93; submitted by Mark Galli, managing editor of Christianity Today

Summary: The Key = Courage!

  • The COURAGE to FIGHT when external opposition seeks to DISCOURAGE us. Nehemiah 4
  • The COURAGE to CONFRONT when internal conflict seeks to DIVIDE us. Nehemiah 5
  • The COURAGE to ENDURE when personal attacks seek to DESTROY us. Nehemiah 6



Martin Luther’s masterful piece, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” has been called the “Battle Hymn of the Reformation.” James Moffatt described it as the “greatest hymn of the greatest man of the greatest period of German history.” This triumphant song, taken from Psalm 46, has inspired legions of Christians for nearly five centuries. A significant twist to this victorious hymn is that Luther wrote it during a season of great depression. In 1527, Martin Luther experienced nearly a year of sickness and intense depression. It was a year of struggle, and one from which he wished he could have escaped, but in the depths of that pain and sadness, God brought forth a majestic hymn that has fortified the faith of millions. Martin Luther, like all of us, hoped for escape from his discouraging experience, but God used that difficult time to shape a mighty message of hope. Although none of us would run to discouragement, we might do well to spend less time trying to shake it and more time searching for the truths God wants to show us when discouragement comes our way. A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Canfield and Hansen, Health Communications, 1996, p. 235–6



2005/10/15