Lesson for May 18 — Nehemiah 4:1-3, 7-9, 13-15; 6:15

By Amy Dueckman

When a powerful tornado destroyed most of the town of Greensburg, Kan., one year ago, people from near and far responded with their concern, prayers and monetary gifts. Many volunteers came to clean up and rebuild, including a group from Hallam, Neb., a town that had experienced a similarly destructive tornado several years before. As an encouragement to Greensburg residents, the Hallam volunteers wore T-shirts that showed before and after pictures of their town with the words, “We rebuilt, you can too.”

Mennonite Disaster Service has also spent much time in the reconstruction efforts at Greensburg. For more than 50 years MDS has helped people rebuild homes damaged or destroyed by hurricanes, earthquakes and tornadoes and floods. I’ve never worked with MDS, but I can imagine the task must look at first insurmountable for volunteers who enter a community devastated by natural disaster. Where and how would anyone begin rebuilding in the face of so many obstacles?

Opposition and obstacles

Rebuilding is what this week’s lesson is all about. Nehemiah and his crew are trying to rebuild Jerusalem’s wall but run into some obstacles. Nehemiah has been an encouragement to the people, but here come the naysayers Sanballat and Tobiah. Their insults are discouraging. “The quality of your building is so weak that even a fox jumping on it would break it down!” they cry. It is almost like a childish playground taunt intended to incite a fight.

Dealing with others’ anger can be a challenge. My own work at a large Mennonite Central Committee thrift store has interestingly let me see a side of humanity that I had never experienced before. Some customers have become very angry when we are not able to accept their donations or cannot give department store guarantees, returns, credits or refunds. We have had to endure angry words, swearing and insults, and the public’s expectations are especially high when it is known we are a Christian organization. I am always amazed at our workers who are not goaded into shouting matches but continue to show calmness and God’s love in their responses.

In the same way Nehemiah remains calm and is not goaded into the fight that Sanballat and Tobiah may be hoping for. Even when enduring both the insults and anger from his opponents, he does not let it defeat him. In fact, he calls on God to turn the insults right back at the heads of the men who hurled them (Neh. 4:4-5).

Overcoming discouragement

Adding to the challenge, the workers themselves are discouraged: “The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall” (Neh. 4:10). Nehemiah’s response is to gather the people to pray, and then to devise a plan to guard the wall day and night. From now on, workers are to be prepared by having a work tool in one hand and a weapon in the other.

Nehemiah’s remedy for this potentially discouraging situation is to be prepared with both prayer and action. That goes with our biblical faith to combine word and deed. Ultimately the work is successful because “the people worked with all their heart” (Neh. 4:6). They finish the wall in a mere 52 days.

In our own experiences of starting over, even in the face of discouragement, let us remember the words of the old hymn: “The work is Thine, O Christ our Lord, the cause for which we stand, and being Thine, ‘twill overcome its foes on every hand.”