Dealing With Distractions
Nehemiah 6:1-16
6 When word came to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left in it—though up to that time I had not set the doors in the gates— 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.”
But they were scheming to harm me; 3 so I sent messengers to them with this reply: “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?” 4 Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave them the same answer.
5 Then, the fifth time, Sanballat sent his aide to me with the same message, and in his hand was an unsealed letter 6 in which was written:
“It is reported among the nations—and Geshem says it is true—that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, and therefore you are building the wall. Moreover, according to these reports you are about to become their king 7 and have even appointed prophets to make this proclamation about you in Jerusalem: ‘There is a king in Judah!’ Now this report will get back to the king; so come, let us meet together.”
8 I sent him this reply: “Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your head.”
9 They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.”
But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.”
10 One day I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was shut in at his home. He said, “Let us meet in the house of God, inside the temple, and let us close the temple doors, because men are coming to kill you—by night they are coming to kill you.”
11 But I said, “Should a man like me run away? Or should someone like me go into the temple to save his life? I will not go!” 12 I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had prophesied against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would commit a sin by doing this, and then they would give me a bad name to discredit me.
14 Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, my God, because of what they have done; remember also the prophet Noadiah and how she and the rest of the prophets have been trying to intimidate me. 15 So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days.
16 When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.
This Sunday’s service can be viewed on our Facebook page @ Sunday, January 29, 2023
Hello, NewDay Friends!
I want you to know right now that if this is a distraction for you, then go ahead and stop reading. Seriously, get back to what you were doing and finish that up. I don’t want to be the one to keep you from something important you were working on. So… hi-ho, hi-ho, back to work you go!
(Hey… are you still reading this?!)
Well, if this is part of your plan for the day, then I welcome you to continue reading. But I do have a question for you… How difficult is it for you to overcome distractions in your life?
Research states that taking much-needed and deserved breaks (intentional) are healthy and actually make you more productive in the long run. BUT, if you are interrupted and distracted (involuntarily) it creates difficulty in refocusing on the task at hand. According to a University of California Irvine study, “it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back to the task.” It is even worse when a person (or persons) make it one of their goals to constantly look for ways to mess up your focus and work.
When I was a Resident Assistant (RA) at college, there was one young man who constantly stopped by my room when he knew I would be cramming for a test the next day. He knew I had to have an open door policy and took full advantage of that during those moments. I explained to him that I could only chat for a few minutes and would need to study. But he would just continue to sit there, talking and eating my snacks. When I asked him why he did that, he proudly stated that he just wanted to distract me to see what I would do! (I think I might have been some kind of social experiment for him!)
In Nehemiah 6, we find Nehemiah being consistently distracted from what was most important for him to focus on. The work they accomplished in less than sixty days is one of the best examples of how to keep yourself tuned in to what is truly significant. We will look at the difference between godly interruptions and deadly distractions this Sunday as we keep our focus on moving forward with God’s vision!
Grateful to journey with you,
Pastor John