How God Helps Us Rise Above the Tides

How God   •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  43:08
0 ratings
· 620 views
Files
Notes
Transcript
Handout
INTRO
How many of you would agree when I say, it’s always easier to begin something than it is to finish it? most of you
It’s easier to gain weight than to lose it.
It’s easier to fill up your schedule than it is actually fulfill your schedule.
It’s easier to make a commitment than to keep it...
In that way, life is a lot like running a long distance race. I remember my first 10K. About half way, it begins thinning out… people are dropping like flies. Life is like that. Storms come into our lives amd makes life just plain hard sometimes. That’s why I am doing this series on How God Helps us to Rise Above the Tides.

Difficult times build our character

Difficult times in our lives are part of the character building process where God is making us more and more like Jesus. He lets you and I experience the things that happen in a broken world. We will all experience difficulties in our lives and the enemy will use these to create discouragement and discouragement is deadly.
We are in and have been in a worldwide storm called the Covid 19 pandemic. It was going away and now is making a comeback and if we are not careful the enemy will use it to discourage us and get us off track.
We are going to look at a story about Nehemiah that will illustrate some causes of discouragement and how we can overcome those.
After spending 70 years in captivity in Babylon during the days of Daniel, the Jews, who had been taken captive and kidnapped to Babylon, were allowed to return to Jerusalem only to find it in ruins. Before they could rebuild the city, they needed to rebuild the wall so they would be protected from raiders. Once they were protected, they could rebuild the city.
The Bible tells us that they all worked very hard at the start, and they quickly rebuilt the wall to half its original height. But the initial enthusiasm wore off, and they got discouraged. And they got discouraged because of four very common causes of discouragement. And I think as we go through this passage today, you're going to see yourself in some or maybe all four of these causes of discouragement.
Let’s look at the passage
Nehemiah 4:6–12 NLT
6 At last the wall was completed to half its height around the entire city, for the people had worked with enthusiasm. 7 But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites heard that the work was going ahead and that the gaps in the wall of Jerusalem were being repaired, they were furious. 8 They all made plans to come and fight against Jerusalem and throw us into confusion. 9 But we prayed to our God and guarded the city day and night to protect ourselves. 10 Then the people of Judah began to complain, “The workers are getting tired, and there is so much rubble to be moved. We will never be able to build the wall by ourselves.” 11 Meanwhile, our enemies were saying, “Before they know what’s happening, we will swoop down on them and kill them and end their work.” 12 The Jews who lived near the enemy came and told us again and again, “They will come from all directions and attack us!”
We are going to look at 4 common causes for discouragement in this passage and you will be able to see what happens when it begins to set in.
But first, when does discouragement set in?
Nehemiah 4:6 NLT
6 At last the wall was completed to half its height around the entire city, for the people had worked with enthusiasm.
They had completed about half of their project. That’s usually when discouragement sets in… about half way.
running a race ...
Moving a load of dirt… half way.
Halfway through a pandemic...
Nehemiah gives us 4 clear pictures of the causes of discouragement.

4 Difficulties that Cause Discouragement

We get discouraged …

1. When something takes longer than expected

This causes fatigue
They were physically exhausted… look a this.
Nehemiah 4:10 NLT
10 Then the people of Judah began to complain, “The workers are getting tired, and there is so much rubble to be moved. We will never be able to build the wall by ourselves.”
You may feel that way as our officials are telling us to Mask Up and keep distance from others … again. These workers were worn out as many of you are today.
When you are physically tired, it’s as bad as being intoxicated as far as your clear thinking and reactions. You can’t even think straight when you are sleep deprived as most Americans are. Physical exhaustion will lead to emotional exhaustion.
Fatigue makes cowards out of all of us. Vince Lombardi
When Elijah was worn out, the Lord made him sleep for a day … then eat and then go back to sleep. Things always will look better when you are rested.
When things take longer than expected, and you become tired and exhausted, you will get discouraged if you don’t get your rest. Your best requires REST
When you are tired, you are more vulnerable to all kinds of things… illnesses, and criticism from others… you become vulnerable.
Deuteronomy 25:17–18 NLT
17 “Never forget what the Amalekites did to you as you came from Egypt. 18 They attacked you when you were exhausted and weary, and they struck down those who were straggling behind. They had no fear of God.
Kathy Radke -
The Banana that gets away from the bunch gets peeled. Pastor Kathy
When you become exhausted, you lag behind and become isolated and you become a target for the devil and make yourself vulnerable.
So, the first cause if discouragement is when you become fatigued, you become more susceptible to be discouraged.
We get discouraged …

2. When something is more complicated than expected

IOW, you begin a project and you begin to realize that, not only is taking longer that you expected, but it is a lot more complicated than you thought… you may have to admit you don’t know what to do.
This causes frustration
Fatigue plus frustration causes discouragement.
Have you ever tried to clean out your house, and you were working so hard but realized… this is hard… and just maybe someone besides me… you just pushed all that stuff back into the closet?
Maybe you have remodeled. You will be amazed at the amount of trash and debris gets hauled off from that project. Anytime you try to build something… a career, a hobby, a life… there will be complications and debris that cause it to take longer to complete as well as make it more difficult to complete.
That’s the second setback the people faced in Jerusalem… Not only was it taking too long, it was complicated by too much junk laying all around. How many of you know, it’s hard to get rid of junk?
Nehemiah 4:10 NLT
10 Then the people of Judah began to complain, “The workers are getting tired, and there is so much rubble to be moved. We will never be able to build the wall by ourselves.”
They were trying to rebuild the walls, but they couldn’t because of all of the debris from when the walls were torn down from before. That had a lot of debris in their lives.
You may not realize it… probably you do… but you have a lot of debris in your lives as well. (emotional… relational… material -too many things in your life… you need to simplify.
Rules for junk in your life
You will alway shave junk in your life. The bigger th epile gets, the more frustrated you will be.
You have to clean out the junk every now and then. Emotionally, you take out the trash by confessing it to the Lord.
If you don’t get rid of it, it will take over. It will keep you from being who God inteded for you to be.
You won’t always recognize the junk in your life, but those around you will . Others can see the stuff in your life that you have allowed to creep in and pile up. Maybe it’s too many activities… wrong activities… etc.
What do you need to do? Tell God about the junk in your life and ask for help.
Psalm 25:16 The Living Bible
16 Come, Lord, and show me your mercy, for I am helpless, overwhelmed, in deep distress;
If you are feeling hopeless and helpless in your life right now.... that’s debris that you need to remove from your life.
Here is another source of discouragement…

3. When I start to doubt my own ability

When this happens…
This causes failure
First you get frustrated, then tired, and then, you feel like a failure.
Nehemiah 4:10 NLT
10 Then the people of Judah began to complain, “The workers are getting tired, and there is so much rubble to be moved. We will never be able to build the wall by ourselves.”
We will never be able to build this wall… What happened to all that energy? That had competed half of the project and now they are ready to give up. They are beginning to think, why did we ever start this project?
Have you ever felt that way? You may wonder why you took that job? get married? Not get married? Why did I move?
Maybe you feel that way in this pandemic. When will we ever get back to normal? And you begin to doubt yourself… you wonder if you will make it.
This pandemic has wiped out all of our goals we had in the beginning of the year but don’t give in or give up.
Here is another source of discouragement…

4. When the opposition grows stronger

Do you remember when you committed your life to Jesus. No one pays attention at first and then you stop going out to bars… stop drinking when you go out to dinner… begin going to church instead of the lake front on Sundays. Your“friends” don’t like the changes in you.
Then they will attack you......
This causes fear
So now you have a combination of fatigue, frustration, failure, and now fear… that’s a bad combination.
For Nehemiah, they had enemies all around who had moved into Jerusalem when they Jews were captured and hauled to Babylon and they did not want the wall rebuilt. If the wall was rebuilt, they could not victimize the Jews. So they used several tactics to try to stop them from rebuilding the walls.
First, they criticized the builders. They told them over and over that they could not do the job… just give it up.
Second, they made fun of the builders. How many of you like to be doing something and have someone make fun of you? NONE.
Third, they threatened them. They threatened to come and kill them.
Listen… in the middle of it taking too long, being too complicated, they had people wanting to kill them.
Nehemiah 4:11 NLT
11 Meanwhile, our enemies were saying, “Before they know what’s happening, we will swoop down on them and kill them and end their work.”
They had legitimate reasons to be discouraged.
Look at who became discouraged first…
Nehemiah 4:12 NLT
12 The Jews who lived near the enemy came and told us again and again, “They will come from all directions and attack us!”
Those who lived out by the enemy listened to the enemy and not to the Lord and they became fearful and discouraged. Too many people today are listening to the News and not to God right now. Too many people are hanging out with their un-saved friends instead of fellow believers. Too many people are spending more time on social media than in the WOG.
Listen to me. If you keep listening to negative news… and negative people… hanging out with people who are not going the direction you want to go, you will begin to be filled with fear and discouragement. Stop filling your mind with everything but what God wants you to focus on.
What’s God’s cure to overcome the feeling that you want to give up?
Philippians 1:6 NLT
6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
God will finish what he started. Here are some things we can do...

What Should We Do When We Feel Like Giving Up?

Do the same three things Nehemiah did

1. Reorganize whatever is not working

Just because life gets difficult doesn’t mean that you are not doing what God wants you to do. He may want you to change something about how you are doing it.
Look at what Nehemiah did. Remember they were being threatened.
Nehemiah 4:13 NLT
13 So I placed armed guards behind the lowest parts of the wall in the exposed areas. I stationed the people to stand guard by families, armed with swords, spears, and bows.
Nehemiah recognized that they had enemies who threatened them. He didn’t quit, he reorganized his work. He assigned some to work and others to stand guard and then they would switch. They didn’t give up, they reorganized to take care of the problem.
Whatever it is that is discouraging you doesn’t mean that you give up. It means that you may need to do it differently. Maybe you need to re-organize your time … your eating habits .... your spending patterns. You reorganize what’s not working.
Gov. just made adjustments in LA Covid 19 fight. He closed bars and is requiring people to wear masks. The difference this time so far is not that the hospitals are not filling up… they are, it’s that they are filling up with people in their 20s and 30s.
When something isn’t working we reorganize our plan. It’s easy to become discouraged and that’s why it’s important to attend our church services and small groups… even if they are online.
Hebrews 10:25 CEV
25 Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord’s coming is getting closer.
We are to encourage each other and if you are no where to be found, who is encouraging you? Who are you encouraging? Get plugged in. If you are afraid to come to the building, plug in online.
1 is reorganize what’s not working, then Nehemiah

2. Refocus on the Lord

Nehemiah 4:14 NLT
14 Then as I looked over the situation, I called together the nobles and the rest of the people and said to them, “Don’t be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!”
Listen to me. God is bigger than this virus. God is bigger than our politics. God is bigger than the civil unrest. You don’t have to be afraid. Draw on your spiritual resources.
The Bible says that when David became discouraged, that He encouraged himself in the Lord.
Remember the Lord. What do we need to remember? Remember His goodness to you in the past… God’s closeness to you in the present… and God’s power for your future. Get your mind off of discouraging news and circumstances and remember that God has been good to you in the past… and he doesn’t change; that God is close… he will never leave nor forsake you; and he has the power to change things.
Your thoughts determine your feelings and they determine your actions. Discouragement is a feeling and if you want to change that feeling, you have to change your thinking… refocus on the Lord.
Look what Jonah did in a BAD situation…
Jonah 2:7 The Living Bible
7 “When I had lost all hope, I turned my thoughts once more to the Lord. And my earnest prayer went to you in your holy Temple.
That’s what you need to do. If you have lost hope, you need to turn your thoughts to the Lord. David did the same thing...
Psalm 119:25 The Living Bible
25 I am completely discouraged—I lie in the dust. Revive me by your Word.
You want to be revived refocus on the Lord. You must get into the WOG daily; pray daily; talk to other Christians daily… Some people are spending more time on Social Media than in the WOG… recipe for disaster.

3. Resist the Discouragement

It’s a choice. You can choose to fight or give in.
Nehemiah 4:14 NLT
14 Then as I looked over the situation, I called together the nobles and the rest of the people and said to them, “Don’t be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!”
Nehemiah told the people to fight.
We are in a spiritual battle every day. We have so much that pushes back on our faith. Our culture is attacking us trying to make us hide and not be Salt and Light as we should. We have this virus that just doesn’t want to go away. We have protests… Satan is behind all of this… remember he wants to kill steal or destroy you. He is the accuser of all believers and he will try to neutralize you by discouraging you.
His favorite weapons are discouragement and distraction.
James 4:7 NLT
7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
We have to resist. First we submit to the Lord, then we resist. We are in a war against negative thoughts, negative forces and negative emotions that want to prevent us from becoming all God wants u to become.
Let me clear. Discouragement is a choice. You don’t have to be discouraged… no one iss holding a gun to your head. The reason you are discouraged is because you are listening to discouraging thoughts. And that’s your choice. You don’t have to listen to those thoughts.
Listen to me, what God begins in you, he will finish if we will allow him to do so.
Now, what is causing the frustration in your life? tired… rest / rubble? then reorganize… REORGANIZE… REFOCUS ON THE LORD… RESIST DISCOURAGEMENT.
If you are discouraged right now, it’s ok…
Romans 8:1 NLT
1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.
God loves to give us second chances. Are you discouraged? depressed? afraid? You need to submit to the Lord and resist the devil. Let god refresh you.
Related Media
See more
Related Sermons
See more