Do you ever wonder why when you start to work at rebuilding or work toward a God-given goal you immediately get hit with a lot of distractions? Even now as I am working on this blog the distractions are pouring in.
How about getting burnt out or overwhelmed suddenly? You are not alone. Many of us find ourselves in this position of opposition to the work of God and sometimes we forget there is a real enemy, the devil, trying to knock us off track to kill the work.
In the last year, God has been teaching me how to deal with being overwhelmed without retreating. In seasons past, when I was sick, I would retreat easily when overwhelmed just to keep my body calm. Any amount of stress would make me collapse, and it would come on suddenly. It became a survival mechanism for me to retreat. God is now teaching me how to overcome the sudden attacks to stop all good works and any form of my flesh that tends to get easily distracted. He is renewing my mind but also old habits.
I don’t know about you, but I can get distracted easily. I’ll be working on a God-given goal and find myself remembering, all of a sudden, that laundry, dishes, errands or email/texts need to be done ASAP. These are all very good things just not out of their place to a higher priority than God has deemed them for the day. Next thing you know it’s the end of the day and the goal has yet to be met. Harmless it seems, but some of us fail to see the seemingly harmless things as a means to steal, kill and destroy us.
There have been seasons where these distractions took over a calling. I was oblivious to how to stay on track to my call to create and write without giving in to the distractions thrown at me constantly. Stress was taking over because I felt like a failure. I couldn’t manage to gain focus in my life enough to concentrate on finishing the goals. But even when we fail or can’t seem to grasp how to move forward in the chaos, Jesus steps in to direct our steps and open our eyes.
God showed me something through scripture that completely related to the stress I felt around me. My Bible was opened up to Nehemiah 4. His Word in Nehemiah 4 was showing me how to keep working in spite of opposition. Once my eyes were opened to the enemy’s tactics I was able to avoid the distractions knowing they were meant to throw me off. Friends, the enemy wants to distract you from your God-given goals to kill the work of God. I’ve got good news—you’re eyes are opened and the enemy has been exposed. Keep working on what God has given you. Jesus is with you! Work with one hand and keep your weapons in the other. Finish it and make room for the new!
The enemy isn’t afraid of us starting something God has prompted us to do, but you better believe opposition will come against you finishing it. Starting something new is great, but unless we finish it, by abiding in our Heavenly Father, there is no fruit that will come from it. The fruit isn’t going to produce by only starting it…nope, the fruit is produced when it is finished.
We have to keep our eyes on why God called us to that specific goal and stick with it because the enemy’s tactics are to get you to stop working on what God has prompted you to finish (just like in Nehemiah).
If it’s hard to keep working on it, you need to eliminate the weights slowing you down. Take out the fruitless works (Ephesians 5:11). Garbage will slow our flow to get things done. Take out the trash and prune even the good fruit that keeps you from creating the best fruit.
Finishing what we start makes room for God to grow more fruit in our lives. So make the most of your time by sitting with God to direct your steps and plan the day. Then, push through the distractions to complete the last thing God showed you to do. If you are struggling to move forward to the goal, get rid of the things slowing you down and take a small break to work on something else or rest. You must pick it back up. Do not give up or stop.
Can you imagine if Nehemiah would have stopped rebuilding? That’s what the enemy wants for you and me, to get distracted, take our eyes off of Jesus, and stop following Jesus’s path for our lives. The enemy will even use good things to keep us from the best thing.
The wall was only useful fully built. So keep working on what God gave you. Finish the work and move forward in the building process.
“When all our enemies heard this, all the surrounding nations were intimidated and lost their confidence, for they realized that this task had been accomplished by our God.” –Nehemiah 6:16
God can complete anything in supernatural timing, but we have to be willing to let Him work WITH us in the process. He gives us wisdom, understanding, and knowledge to create and finish what we started as He does. He is Creator and Finisher. We are made in the image of God. We have inherited His nature. Get back up and finish it this time with His nature as your inheritance.
What is the last thing you felt in your spirit that you were supposed to do? Did you finish it? God, many times, will only give us the very next step for us to take in faith. He is waiting for us to finish that step before the next is given.
It’s an attribute of God to be the FINISHER. God doesn’t leave things unfinished. He will finish what He started in and through you and because we inherited His nature, you will finish strong!
“They plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and throw it into confusion.” –Nehemiah 4:8
“…Will they ever finish it?” –Nehemiah 4:2
“And our enemies said, ‘They won’t realize it until we’re among them and can kill them and stop the work.” –Nehemiah 4:11
“When our enemies heard that we knew their scheme and that God had frustrated it, every one of us returned to his own work on the wall.” –Nehemiah 4:15
“On the seventh day God had completed all his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.” –Genesis 2:2
It is finished. (John 19:30)