I'm Doing a Great Work
““So I sent messengers to them saying, “I am engaged in an important work, and I am unable to come down. Why should the work come to a halt when I leave it to come down to you?””
Nehemiah 6:3 NET
“So I sent messengers to them saying, “I am engaged in an important work, and I am unable to come down. Why should the work come to a halt when I leave it to come down to you?””
Nehemiah 6:3
Who here struggles with distraction? While some of us are certainly more focused than others, we all struggle with losing focus from time to time.
But what if our interruptions are not just our cell phone or internet cat videos that distract us from the work at hand, but people with needs or invitations to be a part of amazing organizations or events? The truth is, those can be distractions too - and potentially far more costly ones - if they drag us away from our God-given focus.
Nehemiah was called to build a wall. The neighbors who wanted him to fail came over, "just to chat." But he saw right through their scheme. He reminded them (and maybe himself in the process) that he had important work to do and couldn't lose focus. Now it's probably not healthy to assume that everyone who calls us away from our tasks has nefarious intentions. In fact, in most cases, their intentions are probably fairly benign if not good. But that doesn't mean that their distraction is any less dangerous if it causes us to lose our focus from what God has called us to do.
Certainly God can use interruptions to point us towards Him, a new focus, or people in need. We don't want to be so busy and so focused that we miss the whispers of the Holy Spirit. And yet, not every interruption is an opportunity. Some are distractions. Some are not of God. And perhaps a select few are ordained intrusions. The key is to discern the difference. If God has called you to something, be very wary of assuming people or requests that take time from that focus are in the divine opportunity camp. It is far more likely those are invitations from individuals whose organizations have legit needs they are trying to fill, certainly nothing wrong with that. But those invitations can be used by the enemy himself to get us off focus, and that is a problem.
In ancient cultures, walls were probably more important than they are today. They represented safety and security and legitimacy. But it's still a wall. It's not a really an impressive or flashy job. It would've been easy for Nehemiah or others to shrug his shoulders and say, "it's just a wall, let me set down my tools and go deal with these mockers face-to-face." But he didn't. He just kept at it.
Often I find it easy to be dismissive of the task at hand, the seemingly insignificant wall God has given to me, especially when people beg or plead for help in an area I know is important. Perhaps it's a bit of pride and I assume _I_ need to be a part of the solution to _their_ problem. But my task, even if seemingly insignificant, is what God has entrusted me with, so therefore it is very important work. And so I can't be distracted.
Where do you find yourself distracted today? What important work has God called you to that deserves your laser-like focus? Who do you need to remind that you have been called to a great work? Perhaps that person is the one in your mirror.
