Do you know that there is a fight for your destiny? To fulfill the purposes and desires of God may look like warfare. Victories don’t come without a battle. The battlefield is the place of preparation to give birth to destiny.
In the place of intimacy, seeds gets planted. The Lord gets reminded of His promises. The Lord places a burden on your heart to step into partnership in faith for these promises to get fulfilled. When your heart becomes One with His you start to burn for what His heart burns for. The Lord starts to carry over His burdens and desires into your spirit.
Jeremiah 29:11-13 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
Nehemiah spent time in intercession being intimate with the Lord. He prayed over Jerusalem and became burdened by the brokenness and despair of the city. He started to carry a burden to rebuild the walls and for Jerusalem to be restored back to its place of worship. (Nehemiah 1:4)
When you partner with God’s will and say Yes, He starts to turn hearts around. He starts to open up the heavens and open up doors to do the very thing He’s called you to. He begins to pave the way and remove the hindrances and obstacles that are barriers to your purpose.
Nehemiah was the king’s cupbearer and this time he was giving the wine to the king. The king noticed Nehemiah was extremely sorrowful. This was an opportunity for Nehemiah to share his heart and the king was open to hearing him and giving him permission. Nehemiah made requests with faith without holding anything back.
We are co-laborers with Christ and have been given the authority to build the kingdom of God here on earth. We are called to partner with Him in faith to bring heaven to earth. To hear His heart beat and be the vessels of building bridges and filling gaps. We are called to walk fearlessly and with faith claiming those things which we need for the building of the work of God. The Lord just needs our Yes, our hands and feet, and the posture of our heart to set ourselves to do that very thing He called us to do.
So Nehemiah got a group of people and they set their minds to work and stepped into action and started the project.
The enemy is never happy when we are working against his plans. It makes him furious to see the very thing he thought he succeeded in to be brought back to life. His desire is to bring to death anything that is alive. He’s always out to destroy the very plan of God. He sends his demons to interrupt, distract, and hinder from the process of being completed. He causes chaos and confusion to the people of God.
There arose an enemy of Nehemiah that heard what Nehemiah and his workers have started and he became furious and started mocking the Jews. He started to speak against the Jews saying they were weak and they will never finish what they began. Nehemiah lifted up a prayer against this attack and he prayed a bold prayer. They continued to work without losing focus because they set their minds to it.
When we encounter the demons of confusion and chaos, we know that this is just a distraction from getting to our destination. We need to keep our gaze on Him who keeps our minds at peace and gives strength to continue in the assignment we are walking out. God equipped us with His armor to stand on guard against the enemy. He’s called us to be alert, to be sober, and to be of a clear mind to resist the enemy. We are to stand watch.
The enemy also tries to wear Gods people out. He continues to harass and annoy Gods laborers until we get weary and burdened and become weak to continue and give up.
The adversaries of Nehemiah tried to conspire and attack them with confusion for their strength to fail and to take them over in defeat.
Nehemiah worked strategically and positioned men in every area of the build and gave them weapons. He arose and started to speak over his people. He told them “do not be afraid, the Lord who Is Great and Awesome and fights for His sons and daughters”. He spoke boldly to them and encouraged them in faith that the enemies heard of their plan and tried to stop them and God brought their plot to nothing.
In the times of discouragement and despair, let God remind you how He is the King of Kings and your defender. That what He has started He will bring to completion. That no weapon formed against you will prosper. That He is fighting your battle. May you be reminded to stand in faith and look to Him, Who is the Author and Finisher of your faith. That He did not forget about you and He is for you. He paves the way, He stills the storm, and He shuts the mouths of lions. When you feel like you are getting weary and failing in strength, His word says His grace is sufficient for you, His strength is made perfect in your weakness. There is nothing that is unknown to Him and He will lead you and guide you through it.
Nehemiah gave his people instructions and geared them up with armor. Then he spread the people out to be separated all around the wall. Then he announced to them, “the work is great and extensive and we are all separated from one another. But be ready, when the sound of the trumpet will be released, rally to us there for God will fight for us”.
When we walk in awareness, when we posture our hearts in stillness, we will hear the Lord call for His people to gather together to release a sound, a groan, a roar, a shout, a trumpet-like echo unto the Lord. Then the Lord Himself will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God. His glory will be revealed as He fights for you. When our hearts are postured in worship and praise, it moves the Lord’s heart on our behalf.
As the wall was getting built day and night, there was a great outcry of the people as they started to complain how heavy-laden their lives are and they want a break. This weighed heavy on Nehemiah and he started to feel oppression. He became very angry and after serious thought he rebuked them. Then they were silenced and found nothing to say. Nehemiah spoke truth to them and warned them to walk in the fear of God and not to lose reverence when they feel the reproach of their enemy. The Lord gave Nehemiah wisdom in leading and stewarding the people through the testing and trials they faced. He led well and they prospered because He led in the fear of the Lord. The Lord provided for them and took care of them.
As we plow through in our journeys, because of passivity it is easy to begin to lose focus of our destination and forget the vision God gave us. When we take our eyes off of Jesus we start to rely on self and we become heavy-ladened and frustrated with the ongoing work before us. We start to grumble and complain and even speak words of doubt against the promise of the Lord because we are tired. The enemy uses this very thing to destroy the promise with our very own mouths. We get in the way and delay our own process.
Nehemiah worked hard day and night without taking breaks and they were getting so close to the the place of completion of the walls, and once again his enemies tried to lead him astray and get him to pause the work and meet with them. Nehemiah knew this was a set up but once again they requested for him and continued to say conspiracies and rumors that Nehemiah wants to be the next king. Nehemiah called them out and told them that these things are not true and that they invent them in their own hearts.
The enemy does not stop setting up his traps even to the very moments right before your breakthrough. Sometimes it feels like all hell broke loose but know that you’re only closer to your destination. He’s only afraid of what is about to become. Today the enemy is the same accuser and uses the same fear and intimidation to make us cease from our purpose. He uses people to make assumptions and believe the lies that were created out of nothing. He sows seeds to grow weeds to tangle us in and stirs the pot of poison to infiltrate our mind. If we don’t catch it in time we get caught up in his webs and we start to hide and cave from all the pressure. We can become apathetic and lose interest in what we were once zealous and burning for. Fear is a liar and is the enemy’s greatest tactic to get us to stop and neglect the work of the Lord. I want to remind you that the very thing God has you called you to, He has given you the very ability to do that. He gave you His spirit and gives you His power that stands above any other demonic spirit of fear and timidity. He gave you boldness and a sound mind to rise above every arrow that comes against you. What you thought was impossible, He makes possible by His spirit in you. You can’t, but He can. You don’t know how, but He knows how. You don’t see, but He sees. All He needs is your willing heart and your obedience.
So the wall was finished and it happened that all of Nehemiah’s enemies heard about it and saw it come to pass that they were dis-heartened in their own eyes. For they saw that this work was done by our God. They were afraid because they failed with all their plots and and intentions to stop the work of the Lord.
Whatever you have set your mind to, you will see the promise of the Lord come to pass. Because of His sacrifice we are secure in Him. He proved Himself faithful. Every time you see where the enemy has come to take you down remind yourself that he is only afraid of you getting to your destiny. He is afraid of people getting saved, healed, delivered, and launched into their callings. Remind yourself of the vision God gave you and the destination you are headed to. Jesus overcame every obstacle for you and paved the way for you to walk through. Because of His willing heart and endurance He was able to get to His destination He came to earth for. He completed the work on the cross and it is finished! He now gave you access the His finished work beyond the veil, to partner with Him and walk out your destiny in faith and endurance. Take those steps forward in faith and see how the Lord will move in your life bringing order and alignment and giving you strategic plans and direction.
Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
1 Corinthians 2:9 “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”