Issue 447
This 447th edition of WORKTALKweekly is being broadcast eleven years to the day since the first one on November 5th 2001. It has been quite an adventure to serve you over these years and we will be writing to you over this month to update you on the WORKTALK story and invite you to to join with us further in the adventure. In the meantime if you want to send a birthday greeting to us please email it to wtw@worktalk.gs blessings!
Look inside of yourself. Do you see a builder or a fighter? Do you see a nurturing person or a confrontational person? Perhaps you prefer to see yourself as a teambuilder rather than a troubleshooter. You are more concerned with collaboration and constructive work than you are fascinated by fights and friction.
Of course you won’t know exactly how you are with these things until you are really in trouble. Watch a mild man when his core values are mocked or his livelihood is threatened and you will see whether he is mild to the core. Observe a mother when she has to protect her child in danger and you will notice how nourishing she is to her centre.
A relative novice as a leader, Nehemiah has to look inside of himself to find out if he can now cope under pressure. He is facing increasing hostility from his enemies, fear and panic amongst his constituency along with exhaustion and discouragement in his workforce.
If he plays this too softly he will be overrun by his enemies, criticized by his workforce and deserted in his constituency. If he plays it too rough he risks all out war, possible destruction of his project and defeat.
Nehemiah looks inside of himself and finds both builder and fighter and brings them both into play. So he splits his forces into workforce and armed-force. Half carry shovels, half carry spears. Even the ones with one hand on the shovel have the other on the sword. The armed force guards the workforce. The left hand guards the right.
Organizing his forces means no-one is undefended but if anyone gets in trouble it becomes everybody’s trouble. So he kept a trumpeter next to himself to be sure he could muster forces wherever he needed them most.
His strategy calmed his constituency, encouraged his employees and frustrated his enemies frightening them to back off.
It’s brilliant. Take these lessons to work with you and have a great week.
And maybe miss the point. Look again. You are in the fourth chapter of his journal. All the factors I have described are there – except one I have not yet mentioned. The God part.
Here’s the difference. “We prayed to our God (and posted a guard)”. “Remember the Lord is great and awesome (and fight for your brothers, sons and daughters)”.
“(Our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot) and that God had frustrated it”.
“(When you hear the sound of the trumpet join us there) and God will fight for us”.
Nehemiah found his inner builder and his inner fighter but his strength came from the God in whom he trusted. Look at what they did. They armed themselves, they readied themselves, they organized themselves, guarded each others backs but after that they simply stood their ground and got on with their work. They never stopped guarding, watching, or working even when they went for a drink or a wash.
You may almost be ready to take this to work with you. Saul of Tarsus knew all about Nehemiah from a historical point of view. He had even stood on Nehemiah walls. But until he had fallen flat on his face on the road out of Jerusalem to Damascus, he did not see what Nehemiah saw. Have a look at Paul’s description of the armed forces (Ephesians 5:10-18).
Nehemiah said “Don’t be afraid” Paul said “Be strong” then from both of them comes the call to arm yourself. Watch carefully. Paul tells you to put on all your armour and to stand your ground and “After you have done everything” -stand. Then “stand firm” then pray, then watch and stay alert. Where’s the fight? Where’s the combat? Where’s the brilliant military action? Paul, like Nehemiah, has now seen that it is God who does the fighting for you. Just stand your ground and you win.
Of course there’s a fight, a combat and a brilliant military action and it’s on that dark hill again by Nehemiah’s wall. God has fought for you and already won.
Stand still, fully armed and you win. Resist and you win. Watch and you win. Stay alert and you win. Listen and be prepared to cover your brother and sister’s backs and you win.
Can you see it? Look down where you are standing. Not at the ground, but at your own feet. They are shod with good news and peace. Look at every part of yourself; you are armed with all you need. But you don’t fight, you stand.
It takes a long time to realize that there is plenty to do, but your activity has to do with prayer, drawing the sword of the spirit from the belt of the truth, trusting in the rightness of God, not yours. But the fight itself is won already.
Look inside and find your builder, your carer, your nurturer. Find your guard, your solider, your fighter. But most of all find your God dwelling in you by His spirit and you will learn to stand guard, stay alert, and build your wall, career, team, family and life.
You already know that next time you are under pressure you will need all of this and if you hear someone sounding the trumpet because they are getting overwhelmed you gather around and help. Perhaps even harder don’t be afraid to sound your trumpet and signal your need for help.
This piece of writing is arriving from me to help you this week. Stand firm.
Nehemiah 4:6-23
6 So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.
7 But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. 8 They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. 9 But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.
10 Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, “The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.”
11 Also our enemies said, “Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work.”
12 Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”
13 Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows. 14 After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”
15 When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to our own work.
16 From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah 17 who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, 18 and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me.
19 Then I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. 20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!”
21 So we continued the work with half the men holding spears, from the first light of dawn till the stars came out. 22 At that time I also said to the people, “Have every man and his helper stay inside Jerusalem at night, so they can serve us as guards by night and as workers by day.” 23 Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he went for water.
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Work well
Geoff Shattock
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