hard work.

Work is hard sometimes. Probably work is hard most of the time. The definition of the word can even be to toil or to labor. It's tough but it is necessary and does not come without its accomplishments and reward- work results in something. Sometimes the work we have to do feels more difficult than usual, sometimes we are more stressed or feel bogged down by work, even upset by how dadgum hard it is. And sometimes we may be taking on too much or maybe we are even in the wrong job. But I believe that when we are serving God in whatever work we do- we ought to do that work well and work hard at it.  

When the wall of Jerusalem was destroyed the people decided to work together to build it back up. They said ...

"'Let us arise and build.' So they put their hands to the good work." Nehemiah 2:18 

The people were ridiculed and mocked and despised because they were told they were rebelling against the king. But God had told Nehemiah to rebuild- in chapter 2 verse 8 we read, Nehemiah's words 

"The God of heaven will give us success; therefore we His servants will arise and build...". 

I can only imagine that it was in fact hard work rebuilding a wall. No cranes, no bobcats,  there was no machinery like we have now, back in Nehemiah's day. Which, I would think, makes the work even harder. Not to mention how discouraging it must have been to be mocked and ridiculed as you work. They were called feeble as others stood around mocking, "do they really think they are going to do this by themselves? Will they finish it in a day?  hah."  Nehemiah 4:3 says that one man stood by and said "Even what they are building- if a fox should jump on it, he will break their wall down!" How disheartening that must have been!

But then, I love the words in Nehemiah 4:6 where he writes-

"So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart." The New American Standard Bible says "...the people had a mind to work."

This work was to honor God- they were in God's favor, so no ridicule or amount of hard labor was going to stop them. They worked. For God.

This story truly encourages me to ask myself as I work in this ministry or as I do any kind of work that I say I want to honor God with- whatever that may look like-- am I working with all of my heart? Do I have a mind to work? If I want to honor God with my work, if I desire to serve Him, then my heart and mind should be in it.

posted by: Tara