The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Nehemiah 4:1-6, “Now it came about that when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious and very angry and mocked the Jews.
2 He spoke in the presence of his brothers and the wealthy men of Samaria and said, ‘What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restore it for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish in a day? Can they revive the stones from the dusty rubble even the burned ones?’
3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him and he said, ‘Even what they are building– if a fox should jump on it, he would break their stone wall down!’
4 Hear, O our God, how we are despised! Return their reproach on their own heads and give them up for plunder in a land of captivity.
5 Do not forgive their iniquity and let not their sin be blotted out before You, for they have demoralized the builders.’
6 So we built the wall and the whole wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.”

Were I to guess if you’ve experienced something like this, it would almost be
impossible for me to be wrong. For one thing, it is “natural” for the “fallen nature,” (i.e., the sinful, unsaved nature) to think negatively on just about everything. Especially is that so when it comes to something spiritual.

This was precisely the situation of Sanballat, who was entirely opposed to Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the Jerusalem wall.He predates those of our own
day who say, “Don’t bother me with the facts; my mind’s made up!”

Verses 1-3 above are the pattern verses for all negatives of all times. Sanballat and Tobiah are not scientific engineers; they were just evil, first century, negative thinkers. Had the situation been reversed from that of Nehemiah, they would still have been negative toward the rebuilding. (Some people are just negative!)

What are we to do when we’re faced with a mob of negative thinkers? We’re to
follow the pattern of Nehemiah. He turned to the LORD in prayer. Some people
see that like a child running to a parent when he doesn’t get his own way –or
just doesn’t know how to handle the situation.

Truthfully, it doesn’t matter how small the “issue” is, or what others think about our
praying to the LORD for an answer the situation. He loves us and wants us to always depend upon Him.

It’s not a matter of how gargantuan or minimal the situation might be. All that matters is that we recognize our child-to-Father relationship and seek His advice for our speech and our behavior. It will always then be the best from both parties.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom