Be Veeery Afraid! or NOT!

They were rebuilding the wall around their city.
Decades before it stood strong & proud.
They had to clear the rubble just to get to place where the wall
once stood.
They worked hard.
God had started this project & He'd finish it.
















The people around them were ticked.
They made fun of them.
They pointed out the hugeness of the job.
They threatened.
They weren't messin' around.
Their purpose was to intimidate God's people.

Still, the wall construction continued.
Their leader, Nehemiah, made appropriate preparations
and then kept on working.

Intimidation seems mild.
It's not.
It means FEAR!
To be AFRAID!
That's not mild. That's opposite of God.

Fear STEALS our purpose & destroys our ability to obey God.

We're God's people & we get intimidated - rather easily...

- By listening to lies
Sometimes people, media, situations lie to us.
Sometimes it's our own pathetic "self-talk" - nuf said

- Letting ourselves become Discouraged
It's seems noble & somehow OK, but it's really just selfishly
thinking about what WE want, how this is effecting US
and what WE think should be happening.
That'll keep us from God's purpose.

- Fake Friends
When a few people turn on us we can fall into fear mode
and begin to pull away from everyone we're serving.
"Don't be close, you'll get burned."
That is not the character of God.
This certainly keeps us from God's purpose... that's fear.


Obviously there's tons of things that can put fear in our
minds... but it's up to us whether we'll allow it to stay &
grow in our hearts.

Nehemiah
-refused to sin
- prayed for strength
- didn't let any of the list above keep Him
from accomplishing God's purpose.

Which... is good, cuz his purpose directly affected the
people around him.

So does your purpose.

What fears tend to make you stop or at the least pause
from your purpose for a moment?
How to you go on?