The motto created by Lord Baden-Powell for the Scout’s movement was ‘Be prepared’. It was the idea that from a young age, Scouts would learn to survive and thrive, wherever they might find themselves. That they would be able to tie knots, make a shelter, stay safe and know what a woggle was and how it should be used. 

In our home we have a large family. So, over the years, we have created a tradition of ringing a bell when it is time for the evening meal. Once the bell is rung, children come from all directions, salivating at the prospect of food. If we have visitors, there is often some surprise at the sound of a bell being rung and even more surprise when children appear instantaneously at the meal table, seated with cutlery in hands and ready to eat.

Poor Nehemiah. The wall is half built and everyone has done so well to get to this point, but now people are tired and starting to grumble. Just as he is trying to work out how to keep the work moving forward, he gets given a message repeatedly: ‘They will come from all directions and attack us’. 

Years ago I ran the London Marathon. It was an incredible day. I had trained for months; I was in good condition and joined thousands of others on the starting line. I remember the moment it started to go wrong. Tower Bridge, around the halfway mark. I was feeling good and thinking, ‘This is great, I am halfway. Just got to do that again.’ 

It is often in children’s movies and comic books that enemies are obvious in their actions. The reality is that in life the enemy is often sneaky. Confusion is caused, by the whisper of gossip in the staff canteen, the seemingly innocent question in the company boardroom, the text message or social media post that could be read in many different ways. 

Is the glass half full or half empty? This is often the question that is asked to determine whether you are an optimist or a pessimist. But life is never as simple as the remains of a drink in a glass. There is always something that needs doing. 

I don’t know what your natural reaction is when you face opposition and persecution. Maybe it is to run away from the situation, to get yourself out of the room, away from the confrontation and hope it will go away. Or maybe you react with excess strength and retaliate, saying things you later regret or getting physical and pushing the problem away. 

As we mentioned earlier, haters are going to hate. It seems that success, which we prayed for yesterday, breeds opposition. But this seemingly overnight success was a long time coming. Nehemiah’s predecessor was Zerubbabel (Ezra 1–6), who led the first Jewish exiles back to Jerusalem and completed the rebuilding of the temple in 516 BC. But rather than continue rebuilding the city, they stopped. 

This is a beautiful moment in the story of Nehemiah. We started in chapter 1 with Nehemiah feeling alone in the pain for the state of his homeland (1:4). From that point we see his concerns being shared with the king (2:5), then with the few (2:12), then with the leaders (2:17) and now everyone is playing their part. 

Challenges will always come our way. The author James writes, ‘Consider it pure joy… whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance’ (Jas 1:2–3) We may not enjoy them, but life is full of hurdles to be overcome.