Nehemiah 6:10-13 (NLT)  Later I went to visit Shemaiah son of Delaiah and grandson of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home. He said, “Let us meet together inside the Temple of God and bolt the doors shut. Your enemies are coming to kill you tonight.” But I replied, “Should someone in my position run from danger? Should someone in my position enter the Temple to save his life? No, I won’t do it!” I realized that God had not spoken to him, but that he had uttered this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. They were hoping to intimidate me and make me sin. Then they would be able to accuse and discredit me.

Nehemiah was in Persia and was cupbearer to the king when he heard that the city of Jerusalem was in ruins and that the wall surrounding the city had been reduced to rubble. He prayed and asked the Lord for his favor and the king of Persia gave him permission to go and rebuild the wall. The king also gave him whatever was needed to complete the job. Everything was good until the godless people living in the land saw that the Jews were organizing to rebuild the wall. When they realized what they were going to do, they did everything that they could to oppose them and try to get the rebuilding to stop. One day, Nehemiah met with Shemaiah (who was an Israelite) and was counseled by him to go to the Temple of God and shut himself in because people were coming to kill him. Nehemiah, being a strong leader, took issue with this because he felt that if he were to run away from danger, that would be a bad witness about the power of God to keep him safe. If he did that, then the people who were risking their lives to get the wall rebuilt while there were many enemies around them would get discouraged and afraid and would run to hide as well. The wall would never get rebuilt and the enemies would be successful in their attempts to stop the construction. Nehemiah considered it a sin to do such a thing.

We as Christians make a lot of bold statements about the Lord and we tell people about how mighty He is and about the awesome things that He does and how nothing is impossible for Him. All of that is absolutely true, of course, but the problem is that when trouble or danger comes, many who have made a lot of boasts about God decide that it is time to run and hide. So what happens when trouble comes? Does God all of a sudden become powerless or does He leave His throne for a moment, causing us to have to fend for ourselves? What's really happening when someone runs from trouble or danger instead of trusting in the Lord is that what they were boasting about was just coming from their mouth and not from their heart. It's one thing to have knowledge of what God is capable of, and it's another thing to have such a close relationship with Him that you know that those amazing things that He does He will do for you when you run to Him for help.

Nehemiah considered it a sinful thing to run and hide when God had been so faithful to grant him and the people great favor, along with supplying everything that was needed. After God had set up everything so amazingly and had shown His hand of protection and provision, how could he run now just to save his own skin? As it turned out, the counsel given was just another plot by the enemies of God to stop the work. In this day and age where the voices in the world are telling everyone that they should be afraid and they should literally run and hide, we as the people of God have to exercise our faith to show that it is the Lord Jesus who keeps us safe and not we ourselves. We can run all we want and hide in what we think is the most secure place but if God is not with us, we are really not safe at all. Let's lead by example in showing that what we say about God we personally believe about Him. Let's demonstrate our faith in God by getting His leading and direction and then moving forward fearlessly to do what He is calling us to do, fully trusting that He will keep us safe in the palm of His hand. If we do face trouble and adversity, the Lord will be faithful to see us through as He has always done. It's no time to run. Trust God and show everyone how faithful the Lord Jesus is when you put all of your trust in Him.

Pastor Joey Vazquez