Scripture
"Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked" (Nehemiah 4:18).
Observation
This is one of my favourite verses in Nehemiah!
So here they are ... working with a trowel of cement in one hand and a sword in the other. Sanbalat and Tobiah stationed themselves against them. Why? Their anger was ignited because they saw progress! Now that's about as malicious as you can get! But jealousy and envy are twins in the subtle war that destroys people and relationships. Envy is so powerful that even though you see something as good, you will be unable to benefit from it. Envy forbids you. It will debilitate your growth and stunt your future. It will withhold from you anything good ... especially if it gives credit to another. Envy demands credit and jealousy will not share it with anyone else. And if it cannot get the credit, no one else will either.
Ezekiel 8:5 defines jealousy, not as an emotion, but as an idol. It is a spirit that attacks us all.
"Then He said to me, "Son of man, raise your eyes now toward the north." So I raised my eyes toward the north, and behold, to the north of the altar gate was this idol of jealousy at the entrance."
Application
And I wonder if sometimes that enemy is within ... it could have infiltrated my own soul and I must be aware of the vices of my own heart. Jealousy can destroy me from within. Read what Nehemiah records about their enemy's strategy: "Also our enemies said, 'Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work.'" The enemy's subtle and hides well. It could be lurking within us!
We must learn to build with a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other. Peter reminds us to be on the alert for the devil is like a prowling lion seeking those he may devour. Solomon weighs in and reminds us that the "woman of folly" sits by the way ... "Calling to those who pass by, who are making their paths straight." No, she doesn't go after the crooked ones. It's the ones trying to straighten their paths out that becomes allures her.
It would sure be nice if, as soon as we decide to serve God and rebuild a marriage, our relationships, our consciences or our faith, that life just immediately smoothed out. All the problems get dissolved!
Fat chance.
Instead, the enemy goes on the warpath. Jealous people get mad and envious eyes begin to squint in your direction. It just a part of rebuilding.
So rebuild with a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other. It can be done. The temple was magnificent for the Jews, and it can be the same for us.
We must learn to build with a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other. Peter reminds us to be on the alert for the devil is like a prowling lion seeking those he may devour. Solomon weighs in and reminds us that the "woman of folly" sits by the way ... "Calling to those who pass by, who are making their paths straight." No, she doesn't go after the crooked ones. It's the ones trying to straighten their paths out that becomes allures her.
It would sure be nice if, as soon as we decide to serve God and rebuild a marriage, our relationships, our consciences or our faith, that life just immediately smoothed out. All the problems get dissolved!
Fat chance.
Instead, the enemy goes on the warpath. Jealous people get mad and envious eyes begin to squint in your direction. It just a part of rebuilding.
So rebuild with a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other. It can be done. The temple was magnificent for the Jews, and it can be the same for us.
Prayer
O Lord, expose envy in my soul and expel it. Amen.
O Lord, expose envy in my soul and expel it. Amen.
