Codes for Christian Living
Make Proper Adjustments
Then Judah said, “The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall.” And our adversaries said, “They will neither know nor see anything, till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease.”
So it was, when the Jews who dwelt near them came, that they told us ten times, “From whatever place you turn, they will be upon us.”
Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
—NEHEMIAH 4:10–14
One of Judah’s primary concerns and complaints was that there was “so much rubbish” (4:10). There was nothing wrong with the actual foundation upon which Nehemiah and his team were rebuilding their wall. It was rock-solid.
The problem existed because for years all types of junk and debris had accumulated on top of that foundation. Any attempt to rebuild the wall without first removing the rubbish would have been frustrating and futile. Oh, they may have gotten the wall up, and it may even have looked really good, but the first big assault of any kind would have brought it tumbling down once again. It is always dangerous to attempt to rebuild a wall on a foundation as unstable as rubbish. Yet there are many who attempt this today, especially when it comes to trying to rebuild a relationship. Relational rubbish has a way of accumulating untouched over the years. To not remove it and to attempt to build again on top of it only assures that in a short time that relationship will crumble again. Relational rubbish can only be removed through true repentance and unconditional forgiveness.
Many of us who are in need of rebuilding already have a solid foundation. We do not need to lay a new one. But we do need to remove our own accumulated rubbish so the solid foundation can be exposed once again. Many marriages have been built on a solid foundation, but it is the rubbish that has been allowed to pile up across the years that is the problem. We need to remove it, to get back to the foundation, and to make our own proper adjustments when we meet opposition.
Others of us are living lives that were originally built on a solid foundation. We were brought up on the principles of honor, decency, and integrity that are rooted in the Bible. The problem lies in the fact that those principles have not been seen in a while because all the rubbish of life has buried them. And, unfortunately, some of us continue to attempt to build on that rubbish, instead of first removing it. This perpetuates an endless cycle of rebuilding and collapse, and it is a major reason why more walls of life are not solidly and permanently rebuilt.
When Nehemiah met with opposition, he first faced it head-on, and then he made the proper adjustments needed to complete the task.
Content drawn from The Nehemiah Code: It's Never Too Late for a New Beginning.