Focused

In this G4G devotional, Stephanie looks at Nehemiah 6 and the powerful statement, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.” Nehemiah’s enemies tried to distract him from rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, but he recognized what God had called him to do and refused to lose focus. Stephanie explores the difference between simply being focused and knowing what is truly worth focusing on. In our busy lives, we can become distracted by good things and lose sight of the most important things—our relationship with Jesus, time in God’s Word, prayer, family, and serving others. This devotional encourages us to develop the discernment to recognize distractions and confidently stay focused on the work God has given us.

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Hi, girlfriend, Stephanie Cutler here, Women's Ministry Director with your weekly devotional. This week's G for G devotional is called Focused. And the scriptures from Nehemiah 6, chapters, verses 1 to 3. It was told to Sanbelat Tobiah Geshem the Arab, and to the rest of those who hated us that I had built the wall again. They were told that the wall had no more open places, but I had not yet set up the doors and the gates. So Sanbalat and Geshem sent word to me, saying, Come, let us meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they were planning to hurt or kill me. So I sent men with word to them saying, I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you? That's the scripture for today. So how good are you at focusing? Do you enjoy being focused, or is it kind of a struggle for you? I have three kids who all have different levels of ability of focus, but I know that there's value in teaching them to be able to focus for certain times and certain tasks. I tend to be ferociously focused, especially when I'm in my green zone and I have an ex and I have a cup of extra strong dark roast black coffee. But see, I like being focused. Sometimes I do question whether being a focused person, you know, like a Martha, is a good thing, or if I need something to change. At the Global Leadership Summit this year, I heard a quote from Priscilla Shire, and it encouraged my focused-minded heart. She said, We cannot use our reliance on God as an excuse to slack off or prepare to fail. Sorry, fail to prepare. True faith is not passive. I still believe in preparing well. I still believe in working hard, and I still believe in making wise strategic decisions. When the sweat beads are bubbling up and you're putting in the hours, faith means you are doing the practical label labor while trusting the one who has called you is the one who will ultimately sustain you. That's from Priscilla, our seven-week study author. This quote gave me confidence that being focused is okay and even a good thing. However, I am aware that other things need my focus, such as time in the word and prayer, and time focused on family. Not being able to be a merry sometimes and slow down can be dangerous. Focus takes balance, discernment, and a dedication to do it right. In our Bible passage for today, we see the story of a man named Nehemiah who is building a wall and exclaims just how focused he is. What's the background here? God's people, the Israelites, were taken into captivity by the Babylonians in 586 BC. When they were taken into captivity, Jerusalem was destroyed, their capital city, including the temple and the city walls. Seventy years later, the Babylonian captivity came to an end, and King Cyrus of Persia allowed the Israelites to return to their promised land over time. Years after the Israelites began returning to Jerusalem, Nehemiah heard that the city walls were still broken down and its gates had been burned. Nehemiah was serving as cupbearer to the Persian king when God placed a burden on his heart to do something about it. He eventually received permission to go to Jerusalem and lead the people in rebuilding the city walls. Nehemiah wanted the walls of Jerusalem repaired, but it wasn't an easy job. On top of the hard job, Nehemiah had people like Sanbalat, Tobiah, and others mocking him, threatening, and trying to break his focus, but he kept building. Just as he was nearing the end, Sanbalat and Geshem and the crew came at Nehemiah again. They said, Come, let us meet together. That sounds nice and innocent, but context tells us that Nehemiah knew they wanted to harm or kill him. So how did Nehemiah reply? He said, I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. He essentially is saying, God has given me something to do, and I'm not going to abandon it because my enemy has invited me somewhere else. You see, the enemy's strategy wasn't necessarily to destroy the wall directly. Instead, it was to get Nehemiah to stop building. And that's an important distinction because sometimes the opposition doesn't have to make you quit. It just has to distract you long enough to stop you from finishing. It can ruin your focus. I think focus is a good thing, but we can take a lesson from Nehemiah. Nehemiah wasn't merely good at focusing. He knew what was worth focusing on. When we are doing God's work, we may, may we have the discernment to say to the enemy, I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Maybe the great work we're doing isn't rebuilding a city wall, but doing God's work could look a lot like this in your life: reading the Bible, praying, implementing a family dinner devotional, visiting someone who is sick, volunteering at a local outreach, or joining a ministry team here at DR. Whatever it is, we can stay focused when we can identify the true enemy. And identifying the true enemy is something that Priscilla Shearer is going to talk about in her first session of the Armor of God, which starts soon. I hope you're signed up for that study. It's going to be seven weeks. The Armor of God, Priscilla, giving us lots of great advice how to see the enemy, how to withstand it. And you can get signed up at drlc.org slash study. There's 10 study times to choose from, and those kick off the week of September 13th. That's all today. I hope you're standing firm on Jesus.