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 as workers 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. ~ Nehemiah 4:16-23NIV
Nehemiah was in charge of the rebuilding of the Temple, and the enemy was against them. I want you to notice that they didn’t stop building the Temple. They didn’t get distracted by the threats of the enemy. They kept working. They stayed focused on their work. This is the wild part, though; they kept their swords on them. They even worked with one hand because they had a weapon in their other hand. Let that sink in for a moment.
They didn’t let the threat of the enemy take away from their focus on rebuilding the Temple, but they didn’t take the threat of the enemy lightly and kept their weapon in their hand as they worked. Then, on top of all of that, if the enemy attacked, the trumpet would be sounded, and all people who heard the sound of the trumpet were to run to that area. They didn’t believe in taking the enemy on on their own. No. They were to come to each other’s aid. They were to be there for their fellow worker. This is how the Church should be.
Each of us should be strapped with our Sword of the Spirit and Shield of Faith at all times, prepared to defend ourselves against the enemy but never taking our focus off the call God has on our lives. And when one of us is under attack, we should sound the alarm and come to that person’s aid. The underground Church is currently sounding the alarm. Begging the free Church to pray for them, and we pretend like we don’t even hear the alarm. Our fellow brothers and sisters are under physical and spiritual attack like we can’t even imagine, and we can’t even spare 10 minutes to pray for them. Even in our own freedom, we don’t take up our sword to defend ourselves. We don’t pray for our nations, leaders, those in power. We say there is no hope, and we just give up. It’s time for the Church to stand up for the faith and fight the spiritual battle before us on our knees before it’s too late.
Dear LORD, please help me to strap on the Sword of the Spirit at all times. Help me to put on the full armor that You have given to me. Help me not to ignore the sound of the alarm but to get down on my hands and knees and pray and seek You on behalf of Your Church. Help me to come to my brother and sister’s aid when they call out for help. Help me not to lay down my weapons but to stand strong and prepared for whatever may come. Show me how to focus on the will You have for my life. Teach me to be the kind of Christian that will hear You say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant, with whom I am well pleased,” when I stand before Your throne. In Jesus’ name, pray, amen.
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