The Passion Project - A Heart for the Work

In this installment of The Passion Project, Pastor Mark Medley dives into the account of Nehemiah’s mission to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls, revealing how a divinely placed burden can awaken profound purpose. Mark, known simply as Mark when he’s in teaching mode, points to Nehemiah’s reaction to the city’s broken condition—he weeps, fasts, and prays, allowing the heaviness of the situation to stir his heart. This story speaks directly to anyone who feels weighed down by circumstances, reminding us that the issues we can’t shake off might be exactly where God wants us to act.

Mark explains that the real strength behind rebuilding a city, or any broken aspect of our lives, lies in developing “a heart for the work.” Nehemiah’s approach highlights the power of prayer and unity. Faced with relentless opposition from critics, he refuses to be derailed by mockery or intimidation. Instead, he brings every concern to God, urging his people not to fear but to remember the Lord who fights on their behalf. This bold leadership sparks courage, showing us that words, when infused with faith, can build up those around us.

A key turning point occurs when the wall reaches the halfway mark—often the hardest stage of any project. Mark reminds us that the middle is where discouragement can take root. But with a clear vision and collective effort, Nehemiah and his team press on. They work with a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other, symbolizing the balance between staying on task and defending against spiritual attacks. Mark relates this to our modern challenges, from family struggles to career roadblocks, emphasizing that perseverance isn’t about ignoring obstacles; it’s about anchoring ourselves in God’s promises while we keep moving.

Finally, Mark poses the same question Nehemiah’s story raises: How do we measure success? Drawing from passages like Matthew 25, he affirms that God values faithfulness over worldly achievements. In the face of life’s rubble, Jesus is our ultimate builder, renewing what seems irreparable and inviting us to participate in His redemptive plan. By following Nehemiah’s footsteps—letting burdens create vision, forging unity with others, and trusting God’s guidance—we can find hope and purpose no matter what challenges arise. Discover how a heart for the work can transform not just walls, but entire lives and communities.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and Scripture Readings
• 6:35 The Importance of Scripture in Our Lives
• 18:54 The Story of Nehemiah Begins
• 20:47 Closing Prayers and Reflections
• 40:05 Opposition and Mockery Faced by Nehemiah
• 1:27:07 The Encouragement of Community Support
• 5:16:40 Building the Wall: Practical Lessons
• 12:29:10 God’s Role in Our Plans
• 22:09:07 The Hope of Redemption in Difficult Times

Transcript

Mark Medley: 0:03

We are in Nehemiah, chapter 4. Are you ready? Are you okay if we read a lot of scripture this morning? Alright, not gonna overwhelm you with scripture. Good, gonna read the whole chapter. Nehemiah, chapter 4, verse 1.

Mark Medley: 0:22

Now, when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged and he jeered at the Jews and he said, in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria what are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that? Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him and he said yes, what they are building. If a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall. He will break down their stone wall. Hear, o God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives. Do not cover their guilt and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders. So we built the wall, and all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

Mark Medley: 1:40

The Winstead and Ballot and Tobiah, and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed. They were very angry and they all plotted together to come and to fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them, day and night. In Judah, it was said, the strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There's too much rubble by ourselves. We will not be able to rebuild the wall, and our enemy said. They will not know or see until we come along among them and kill them and stop the work. At that time the Jews who live near us came from all directions and said to us 10 times you must return to us. So in the lowest parts of the space, behind the wall, in the open places, I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears and their bows, and I looked and arose and said to the nobles, to the officials and to the rest of the people do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, your homes, your sons, your daughters, your wives, your homes. When our enemies heard that it was known to us that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work.

Mark Medley: 3:15

From that day on, half of my servants worked on the construction and half held the spears, shields, bows and coats of mail, and the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other, and each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me, and I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people the work is great and widely spread. We are separated on the wall, far from one another, in the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us. So we labored at the work and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out. That's a long day. I also said to the people at the time let every man and his servant pass the night within Jerusalem, that they may be a guard for us by the night and may labor by day. So, neither I nor my brothers, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes. Each kept his weapon right at his side. Father, thank you for your word this morning. Thank you, lord, that you're alive and among us. Thank you for your presence that's here, and we ask you to speak to us, lord. Each of us individually speak to households and speak to us all together as a body, and we open our ears, lord, in Jesus' name, amen.

Mark Medley: 5:10

Okay, the question of the morning for you At the end of your life, how will you measure your success? I know it's a light question, it's, I mean, neil usually opens with a joke, but I's a light question. I mean Neil usually opens with a joke, but I open with a question At the end of your life, how will you measure your success? It's a really good question, because you don't get to the end successful unless you think about that question Now, and maybe, I guess maybe, the thing that comes to my mind and your mind maybe too, is if we could hear, enter in good and faithful servant. That's a success. Right, good and faithful. And you know, good and faithful that's two things. Good we're good only by the grace of God and the blood of Jesus. Right, that's our goodness, that's God's part, that we can't do, but our faithfulness, that's our part. And so faithfulness is like a yardstick that you measure success. I would say that God measures success in your life. Are you faithful? That's the question. Second question is how do I know what to be faithful over? Right, this is like I don't know what is my thing, what is the thing that I'm going to be standing before Jesus saying this is what you gave me and here's what I did with it.

Mark Medley: 6:36

And it occurs to me that a wise person is a person who is aware, whose heart is aware, aware of what God is doing, aware of the things that God cares about and wants to join himself or herself to those things. I believe a large part of becoming wise has to do with paying attention. It's being aware what is God doing in my community, in my family, in my marriage, in my own life, and then joining myself to that and having a heart for His work. So we've had three great sermons in this series. So far I've been other places listening to these sermons but they've really encouraged me and I think what I see, as we're kind of gearing up to finish this book we're starting off and seeing what's going on is that Nehemiah was great because he cared about what God cared about and his heart was aware of what was going on and he began to join it together with God. So we kind of begin to see through these sermons that there's two great needs at the moment. The first great need is the fortress around the city had to be rebuilt, but there was another rebuilding that was happening too. In the same way, the covenant with God had to be rebuilt in the hearts of God's people. They had fallen away. That's why they were in captivity. So there's a wall being built and there's a rebuilt and a covenant being rebuilt in the hearts of people. That's what the book of Nehemiah is about.

Mark Medley: 8:16

And Nehemiah is a trusted servant of the king. He had a great gig, relatively comfortable, in captivity, and yet there was something in his heart that was not right, because his heart longed for the things of God. He was concerned about Jerusalem, and you remember. And Kelly opened this up and he said he read the first chapter where Nehemiah had this heart to know about what is going on with Jerusalem. And when he heard it, when he heard the walls of Jerusalem are broken down, his heart was broken down and he began to weep for the things that God was weeping over. He began to have a heart for the work of God. He was listening. He was listening to what God was doing on earth, but he was listening to what was going on in his own heart as well. He had this nagging burden in his heart and his questions about Jerusalem were because there was a heart for Jerusalem, which means a heart for the things of God. What is God doing on this earth? I really believe we're not going to be satisfied unless we're joining ourselves with what God is doing on earth. So he had these questions and he heard that news and his heart was broken. And there came this day when he woke up one one man and he went to bed a different man. He woke up in one situation. He heard some news in the middle of the day and by the end of the day his whole life was changed. Everything was different. He couldn't keep living the way he was living. He really heard the news and the burden of God became the burden of Nehemiah. He really heard the news and the burden of God became the burden of Nehemiah. That's where it started.

Mark Medley: 10:09

And you remember, in chapter 2, when Sanballat, the enemy of the project, the enemy of what God's doing on earth, at that time heard it, he was very angry because someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel. He was mad because somebody cared about Israel. There's always been this nasty anti-Semitic spirit in the earth because the enemy, the enemy, the devil, wants to stop the things of God. And Israel is God's covenant people through which would come the Messiah who would bless all nations. So there's always been this hatred and there always will be. There's always a desire to, to, to in some way extinguish Israel, but nobody's ever been able to do it because God has a covenant with them.

Mark Medley: 11:03

But the point here is that there's a man, nehemiah, who's concerned with what God's concerned about. And it made me think of Philippians, chapter two. You remember when Paul was talking to the Philippians. He was riding there from prison and he said I want to send Timothy to you. And here's what he said I hope, in the Lord Jesus, to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by the news of you, for I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned with your welfare. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. I know a lot of people, paul says. I know a lot of men, but they're seeking their own interests, not the interests of Jesus Christ. But Timothy. Timothy's different. He cares about what God cares about. He seeks the interest of Jesus Christ. So this sermon's for everybody here today. But I really want to speak to the men that are here, all of us. I'm lumping myself in with you. Okay, I'm not speaking to you, I'm speaking to us today. Are you concerned with the things of Jesus Christ? Are you concerned with the things that will outlive you, the things that are important not only on this earth but for eternity? The things that are important not only on this earth but for eternity?

Mark Medley: 12:31

I have made an observation over the years, and my observation is a man who lacks purpose distracts himself with pleasure, and a woman too, not just a man. Anyone who lacks purpose will distract themselves with pleasure, and there's a lot of pleasure to be distracted with in this world right. There's a lot and we're just kind of feeding ourselves with the feed. Whatever the feed, whatever your social media of choice is, I don't know, there's pleasures, there's things that are distractions, and that happens and those things are so empty. And it happens because we don't have a solid purpose for our lives. So I'm going to ask you guys especially you guys, the men in the room will you allow God to raise the bar in your life? Because He'll do it if you allow Him. And maybe he's challenging you too Maybe he already has been, maybe he's been speaking to you about this To make you a man who is genuinely concerned for the things of Jesus Christ, a man who's aware of what's going on in this world, what God wants to do in your community, in your family, in your marriage. It's important Burden comes before vision.

Mark Medley: 13:54

It's really important. When he heard that the walls were broken down, he was almost paralyzed by this burden. He was stopped in his tracks by this burden. He wept, but the first thing he did was not go into action. He didn't immediately start doing things. His first response was to truly understand what God was doing and to feel the pain and the enormity of the burden of God. That's the first thing he did. I heard it and I wept for days. That's what it says in chapter one. He wasn't afraid to let the weight of the situation sink into his heart and then let his heart sink up with the purposes of God. So when we feel this burden overwhelmingly and we feel it deeply, then the vision can come.

Mark Medley: 14:51

Burden precedes vision. You don't decide what you want to do with your life. I mean, you can if you want. It's not a great way to live. It usually ends in a dead end. What starts the whole thing is burden. What is God doing? What is on God's heart? And then, who am I and what is my part? And then what is the vision that God's given to me? We began to get a heart for the work, a heart for his work. That's it, and it's not okay that things stay the same. We have to do something. There's something that God has for us to do.

Mark Medley: 15:31

So, when it comes to what God is doing around you, what does your heart tell you that you need to pay attention to in this season? Maybe it's different in different seasons, you know, but here we are this morning, right now, and you're in your season and I'm in my season, and what is it that God's telling you to pay attention to? Is it your family? Is it friends who may not know the Lord? Is it some kind of a social issue that you're joining to that your heart is burdened for, or some kind of a ministry that maybe you want to be a part of here at the church? Is it missions efforts? There's something, this thing, that you're feeling could be an indicator of what God wants you to do in this season.

Mark Medley: 16:16

Burden comes first, and then there's vision. Okay, so why is burden important? Why is burden important? Because the burden drives you to find the vision for how God wants to use you to alter the situation that you see. Burden drives you to find vision. Nehemiah felt it, and then he prayed, and then he watched and he listened. He went and he made a tour around the city. He got some people and took them with him. He made a plan, he went to the king. God gave provision. This is what's going on. And the second thing, the second reason that burden is important, is because when hard times and opposition comes, it's the burden that pushes you through. It strengthens you through those difficulties, because this is important enough to endure hardship. And if you're just living for things that are not purposeful they're just your own stuff, your own distractions hardship comes and it can overwhelm you and it seems like nothing's really worth the fight. But here this is what we're seeing in this chapter. The burden makes difficult things less difficult, or at least it makes it worth the difficulty and one of the things.

Mark Medley: 17:41

I'll just give you an example from my life. Recently, yuri and I were on this trip, and this was a tough trip. We were in the Himalayas and we were driving up mountains and these are the worst roads. I thought I saw some bad roads in my life. These are the worst roads I've ever seen, and if you saw the tires we were driving on, you would say it is a miracle. It's an absolute miracle because the tires not only were bald, but they had steel belts hanging out. They had little wires hanging out both sides in the back. Both of the back tires had these. It's like I don't even think this is going to get us down the road at all. And we're on these roads, which are crazy, in the highest mountains in the world. I think eight out of the 10 highest mountains in the world are in the Himalayas. You can go ahead and show those pictures and, uh, we're driving up these, these roads and on these tires, and we're praying. We prayed, lord. This is. I took a picture because I said when this, when we get back home, this is my, this is my testimony, this is my miracle picture. And I don't I don't have it here with me, but these are the roads that we're on.

Mark Medley: 18:55

We're on these places and it was cold. It was cold and we were in these block house and it had no insulation and it was. We were like in four layers, plus a coat, plus two blankets. We just wanted to go to bed because the only place it was not cold was under the covers. We were in bed like at 7 or 7.30 at night. I don't want to do anything. Go to bed and the food I don't know. We ate things that I wasn't even sure what we were eating.

Mark Medley: 19:20

Okay, and you might think that's a hardship, but then when you see the pastor and his family who are living there, I mean I go there and then I get to come home and sleep in my bed and come to this church and be with you. It's not hardship at all when you see these guys who are doing such difficult work in such difficult places so faithfully for so long, sometimes without much fruit, visible fruit, and they're pioneers. These are first-generation churches. They're pioneers. In a land where it's 1.4% Christian, it's like they're alone. The roads, the food, the weather is nothing. It's nothing when you look in the eyes of these pastors. These pastors are my heart, and to be able to give them anything that can help them, some kind of a relationship and encouragement and resources and teaching, it's like you see what I mean.

Mark Medley: 20:28

The burden makes the opposition seem not so bad. You understand, okay, and it applies in your life too, which also includes raising your children and your marriage and your community and your job and your school. All of this you know. The burden for the vision of the future, the vision for what's doing, joining with what God's doing. It strengthens you, so it makes you courageous.

Mark Medley: 20:56

So remember, nehemiah was not building a wall, but he was rebuilding a wall, right? So what was there before he was raising back up again? And some of us are in a season of rebuilding something. Some of us are building. We're just building our walk with Jesus. We're brand new in this, but a lot of us are rebuilding, and maybe it's a season of rebuilding for you, rebuilding what was there before, but it's been damaged for whatever reason. You rebuilding what was there before, but it's been damaged for whatever reason. And maybe it's your personal walk with God that's being rebuilt, and maybe it's your marriage or strained relationships, or it's a career or it's a ministry something. But God is in the midst of rebuilding, midst of rebuilding.

Mark Medley: 21:51

And here's what happens in this chapter Opposition. Opposition from Nehemiah's enemies is so loud and so consistent and so embarrassing. It seems like it multiplies too. But you know what. We might as well expect that there's opposition too. But you know what. We might as well expect that there's opposition. Life is not easy. Either way you go. You might as well go toward the Lord Amen, you might as well. And if you have no opposition in your life, it could be because you're not doing anything of eternal consequence for God, maybe.

Mark Medley: 22:23

What kind of opposition did they face? Well, there was angry people. So what will you face? Angry people will mock you. They're rebelling against the king. They're feeble. Can they restore these ruins? What can they do with this? If a fox walks on this wall, it'll fall down.

Mark Medley: 22:41

I mean, you know, weak men have weapons, and their weapons are words, words of accusation, words of shame, and they just mock the efforts, and sometimes, though, that's all it takes. It just takes somebody mocking you, speaking against you. That's all it takes for you to turn back because you feel ashamed or your reputation is important and people are speaking against you, and the fear of man is a snare. Fear of man is a snare. It snares you, it captures you and you stop. Words are a weapon the enemy uses. Look what he did, though. Nehemiah prayed.

Mark Medley: 23:29

Okay, this is a pattern through this whole book, especially in this chapter. Here comes the words from the enemies, and here goes Nehemiah turning his words to the Lord Hear O God, for we are being despised. God, you fight for us. We're going to remain focused. So here's the pattern that happens throughout this Give the burden to God in prayer and be faithful. Give it to God, be faithful. Give it to God, be faithful. What do you do in opposition? Well, this is pretty good pattern. Here. You turn in prayer. This is what he did, and it's really interesting to me.

Mark Medley: 24:09

It says the wall was restored to half its height and all of these things started happening. I mean outside opposition, inside opposition, from the Jewish people even and I thought about that because half its height, that's halfway, right, that's the middle point. And it says that the people had a mind to work and that's why it got built that big. They all agreed this was important enough. But then the middle is the most dangerous part of any endeavor.

Mark Medley: 24:41

The middle is the hardest part. Starting out, there's a lot of adrenaline. This is awesome. Finishing is awesome. The middle is long and tedious and hard. Can I get any amen? Okay, I see your faces. A lot of us are in the middle, aren't we? The long middle is the trickiest part of any endeavor Middle of marriage, the middle of raising kids, the middle of school You're not finished. You're right in the middle of raising kids. The middle of school You're not finished. You're right in the middle of it. The middle of waiting through a season of isolation where God is working inside of you so he can make you into the person that is capable of doing what he's called you to do. That's a long middle and it's hard. And they rebuilt to half its height and here comes the hardest opposition. Sometimes right in the middle is the hardest opposition. Okay, so don't think it's something unusual. It's normal. The opposing voices are the loudest right there.

Mark Medley: 25:47

So Sanballat heard. He was very angry again. He was a mad guy. He plotted to come and fight against Jerusalem. Okay, we're going to attack All these people together, attacking the purpose of God, not just Nehemiah, but the purpose of God. Okay. So what happened? Nehemiah prayed and he set a guard. Give it to God, be faithful. And he set a guard. Give it to God, be faithful. Give it to God, be faithful. This is over and over.

Mark Medley: 26:24

And then the Jews who lived near them came to them because they heard of this scheme to attack and they came and they said you've got to return 10 times, 10 times. They came and said you've got to stop and come to us. You've got to stop this building and come back to us. You've got to stop this building and come back to us. You've got to stop this building and come back to us. You've got to stop this building and come back to us. You've got to stop this building and come back to us. 10 times, over and over. What do you do? Not only from the enemies, but from your own people. You get opposition.

Mark Medley: 26:46

Sometimes Wow, words are a weapon From the enemy, sometimes from your friends. Words are a weapon and they hurt sometimes, but Nehemiah didn't panic, he was not paralyzed. You know what he did? He put courage in the hearts of people with his words. Words are a weapon both ways, you know. You can put courage into the hearts of people around you with your words, every single day. You can use your words to build people up, man. It's a great way to live, it's a great way to live in the same house together is building people up with your words and putting courage in. How can I put courage, how can I bless the people who are around me today? And he did it. He did it. They were fighting, they were struggling. He said don't be afraid. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome.

Mark Medley: 27:46

Fight for your brothers, fight for your sons, fight for your wives, fight for your daughters, fight for your homes. Guys, I want to just speak to you again. Fight. If you're wondering what is God's will for my life, here's a good place to start. Fight for your homes. Fight for your sons and your daughters and your wives, your wife I was speaking corporately, okay. Speaking personally, you only have one, okay, fight, fight for her man. Start there. Remember, remember chapter three.

Mark Medley: 28:34

We saw that the wall was rebuilt by families. Did you see? You remember that? Tyler had that last week? It was a clan or a family built from this point to this point and this family built from this point to this point. It's a whole bunch of families building the wall. This is what the church is. It's a whole bunch of families who are coming together and doing their thing and the whole wall gets built up. This is the way God works through strong families. So build a wall, guys. Build a wall around your family. This is also if you're a single parent and if you're the only Christian in your household, man, fight for it.

Mark Medley: 29:13

Build a wall in prayer around your family. Build a sanctuary in your household where they are safe, where your family is safe, where your family can worship, where your family can learn about God, not just from Sunday school and they will, in Sunday school youth group, they will. But your home needs to be a safe place, it needs to be a sanctuary, and your family is top priority, top priority, most important thing God's put on your plate. Well, what are the weapons? Nehemiah's weapons Number one was prayer. Again, this is it. Give it to God, be faithful. Give it to God, be faithful, eat what's on your plate, leave the stuff to him that only he can do, and do what you can do Prayer, prayer.

Mark Medley: 30:03

Let me just tell you a story about, uh, about my kids when they were small. Um, they were maybe, uh, six, seven, eight years old they were. My kids are all close together, most of you know that, but they were small and there was one particular child who had a real issue, and if you know my kids and you think you know who this child is, you're probably wrong. Okay, just tell you, don't try to guess because you're probably wrong, and no names will be used here, nor genders, I hope. But there was one particular child who had a real struggle with lying, just like seven years old, and this child just lied all the time, I mean many times a day.

Mark Medley: 30:54

Lying was the worst thing in our home, the worst offense, because if you can't trust each other, you can't have a relationship, and so lying carried the greatest discipline in our house. So lying was just an issue and we were careful to discipline, sometimes many times a day, and this just kept going and kept going and Melissa and I just looked at each other one day and just said what are we even supposed to do with this? So we prayed, and I know I'm a pastor, I should have prayed first. I know that you don't have to tell me that, but we did pray first. But I mean, we got serious about praying. We just we said this is, this is spiritual, and there's something here that's beyond normal, and so let's, let's go, let's go abnormal in our attack of it. So we fasted and we prayed, and you know why it took. It took several weeks of being faithful and going to God in prayer and being faithful with discipline and talking and explaining. But you know, that thing was broken and this child is the absolute, most honest of all of my children. To this very day I'm not even sure that this child is capable of lying today. But this is something that was spiritual, you know, and it was not even anything that we could do anything about. We could be faithful, but it took prayer.

Mark Medley: 32:32

So one of the weapons is prayer. Give it to God, be faithful in what you're doing. Second thing you know they have swords in their hands, right, and I'm going to draw a metaphor here which I think is appropriate, because the sword of the spirit is the word of God, and you remember that Nehemiah was joined together with Ezra, right? This is like Ezra and Nehemiah are actually the same book in the Hebrew Bible. So Ezra and Nehemiah Ezra was a scribe and he was reintroducing the law of God, and so they were working together. So there's this weapon that we have of the word of God, and it's how we play defense and offense at the same time. You know, a sword is both defensive and offensive weapon, and putting the word of God in our own hearts, reminding ourselves of it, putting it in the hearts of those around us that we love, it's like the trowel that we build with. It's the sword that we fight with, the word of God. So prayer, the word of God.

Mark Medley: 33:33

And the last thing that I see here, which was such a powerful weapon, was community, because when you read this, you realize there were people building. There were people behind them holding weapons. There were all the elders of Judah behind them together and they said we're so spread out when the trumpet. When you hear the trumpet, rally to your brothers, run to your brothers. When you hear the trumpet. They were building together all of this. This was not just Nehemiah, this was a huge project. Clans, families, people together, community. Don't be afraid to call out for help. Sound the trumpet when you need to. I need some help up in here. We're not supposed to do this alone. It literally says we can't bear the burden alone. And we can't bear the burden alone, and in the walls that we're rebuilding, we need others. By ourselves, we will not be able to defend the wall. It says in the passage, and this is the truth. We can't do it ourselves, but we can do it together.

Mark Medley: 34:42

And so, nehemiah, what did he do? Again, what do you think he did? He prayed and he was faithful. Okay, here's what he prayed though he prayed God, get them. And he was faithful. Okay, here's what he prayed, though he prayed God get them, get them, get our enemies, lord, get our enemies. Could you just stand against the enemies and you know what God did? He worked, but not in the enemies. He worked in the hearts of the people and he brought the people together in the spirit of unity. When he unified them around each other and around the cause, then the enemy stopped. Isn't that interesting? God didn't deal with the enemy. God dealt with them and their hearts, and when they got right, the enemy stopped. Interesting, isn't it?

Mark Medley: 35:35

And we're praying God, strike down my enemies. And he's like okay, I think I'm going to start with the enemies in your heart, which could be disunity or bitterness or something, whatever it is. I think this is I'll fight your enemies, I will. It may not look exactly like you're thinking, but I'll fight. Sometimes God intervenes Like sovereignly, he does what only God can do, and things change. Sometimes he interacts with us. Interacts means he's working, but we're working together with Him, and things change. And then sometimes God interacts, like he works inside of us. He's working with us and we're praying God, change things out there. And he's like I am, I'm going to change things in here. Here's where things change and this is where it starts.

Mark Medley: 36:31

Okay, and Nehemiah overcame all these oppositions by staying focused on the task. He said I don't have time to listen to you. And in a couple of chapters we'll see, in chapter six, that you know Sanballat's up there again trying to call him away from the work. And he said I'm doing a great work here. I have no time to fool with you. I can't come to your conference to fool with you. I can't come to your conference. I'm building here. Why should I stop the important work and come down to you. Hear O Lord, he did it again. Hear O Lord, listen, he keeps doing this. This is amazing.

Mark Medley: 37:06

He's a project manager who prays. That's not always. That doesn't always happen. You know, task-oriented people are so focused on the task. They're not always. That doesn't always happen. You know, task oriented people are so focused on the task, they're not always focused on the prayer. But he was a little bit prophetic, he was an intercessor and he was a doer as well. He's an interesting, interesting guy. Okay, he gave it to God and he was faithful, okay. Well, these are great insights, mark, fantastic. Thanks so much.

Mark Medley: 37:35

But you don't understand what I'm going through and you don't understand how tired I am or how busy I am or how crazy my life is. And I understand crazy I do. I'm actually pretty acquainted with crazy, and some of us are in a season of busyness. Some of us are in a season of drawing back or God's pruning things. That's okay, there's grace for those kind of seasons. But also you may just be filling your life up with busyness and pleasurable pursuits and just feeding your soul cotton candy, you know, and all you're getting is lethargic and sick and cavities and emptiness, leanness in your soul, right? So maybe God's raising the bar here. What if you had a heart for his work? What if you joined what he's doing? When you get to the end of your life, how are you going to measure your success? I'll just end with a little story.

Mark Medley: 38:58

I was with this couple in Poland a couple of years ago. Young couple, maybe 30 years old, couple of kids, and I was just looking, I was on their back porch and we were having some tea and just talking, and this young lady it's probably, I guess, they were 30 years younger than me, and so I think they were just looking for some kind of wisdom or something. But she asked a question I've never been asked before and I wasn't ready for. We're just having tea right Pleasant day. She said if you look back over your life, what are your greatest regrets? And I thought, wow, okay, the conversation just really changed. Okay, so we're going to get serious here, aren't we? This is great, great question, great question, wise question, because our regrets are kind of like a mirror into our soul and we learn or we should be learning from our greatest lessons, from our regrets, and I've lived longer than they. And so she's asking what are your regrets so we don't make those mistakes? Basically it's things of what she was doing. So I thought, wow, I don't okay, didn't know, it was a pop quiz.

Mark Medley: 40:20

But top of my head I have a lot of regrets from before I came to Jesus. Yes, I made really stupid decisions that hurt people and I really hate those things. But those are under the blood of Jesus. Thank God, if any man's in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things are passed away, all things have become new, all things are of God. This is good news, isn't it? This is what the gospel does for us. I went back to people and asked for forgiveness, made restitution. That's past. Thank God, we've got that. And you know what?

Mark Medley: 41:04

I'm not generally a fearful person. I don't. I'm not driven by fears. I don't deal with that a lot. But there has been a little consistent, nagging fear throughout my life from, like, maybe my twenties or something, and that is that I might get to the end of my life and look back and say I didn't, I didn't walk in all that God wanted me to walk in, like I didn't take steps of faith. I was too. I was too careful and I didn't take steps of faith, I was too careful and I didn't fulfill everything. For some reason that's just been a thing. For me. It's not a regret, it's just kind of a fear of having regrets.

Mark Medley: 41:50

But I started thinking about it. There's kind of big picture regrets and small picture regrets and by the grace of God, when I was saved, I began to make better decisions, and those decisions I don't regret. And I think wisdom is justified by her children right, we understand wise decisions by the fruit they bear. But also there's a redeemer. If we make a mistake it's okay, because God redeems all things. So thank God for that.

Mark Medley: 42:20

But what I saw when I started we just kept going deeper in this conversation. I thought, man, I just came over for tea and we're going like this is philosophizing. I thought there are these smaller regrets which are real annoying. But the smaller regrets are interpersonal, like times when I've been too harsh, especially with the people that I've loved, and I've been judgmental, not willing to hear somebody's story, judging them first, like judging on outward appearance instead of seeing that they're an actual person with a real soul and a real story and worth love. And I thought about that. Those were the regrets, my regrets that I was listing out on that patio that day were all relational regrets. I wish I had loved better. That's what it was, and I'm a pastor and I've been at the bedside of people who are dying and all triviality completely disintegrates when you're about to die and you get really real and you start thinking and talking about things that are real and I've never heard anybody say my regret is I wish I made more money. If I only worked harder at my job and built that business more, never, never. But there are regrets of I wish I would have spent more time with my family while I had an opportunity. I wish I would have gone deeper in those conversations.

Mark Medley: 44:06

That's where people have regret. It's relationships, and doesn't that make sense? Because all the law and the prophets come down to this love God and love your neighbor. It's loving people. It's all. What really matters is relationships and probably at the end of your life your regrets are gonna have to do with relationships and maybe if we think about that now, we won't have regrets or as many regrets when we get over and that life is short. You got to seize the day, but life is long. You gotta. You gotta live day by day in this long middle, making decisions that are consistent with what's important, and that's with loving God and loving people. That's how we build. That's how we build. Okay, so this wall was important because it was God's purpose on earth, but it's a big picture. It's not just a wall, it's a big picture. It was a small story in the big story of Israel, which is the big story of God's covenant, not just with Israel, but with all of mankind through Jesus, because through Israel would come the Messiah.

Mark Medley: 45:24

And I just want to end by encouraging you and reminding you that Jesus is our Nehemiah, and Nehemiah was a builder. And can I remind you that Jesus grew up in a carpenter's household and most likely he learned his father's trade. He was a carpenter's son. Probably he learned that he was a builder. He created all things that we see and don't see as well, and he holds it all together. He's a builder and he's a sustainer, and he's building in our lives right now, in our personal lives, in our marriages, in our families, in our community. He's building. He's building and he's a redeemer.

Mark Medley: 46:11

And I read this week something that encouraged me so much Revelation 21,. He that sat on the throne said behold, I make all things new. He's a redeemer. It doesn't matter where you're at If you think the rubble of your walls is too much. It's just too much. It's overwhelming. It could never be put back together. It's broken and it's burnt and there's nothing that could be done. Don't leave out the God factor. He's a builder man. Jesus is a restorer. He redeems all things. He makes all things new. This is what he wants to do for all of us. Give it to God, be faithful, turn to him in prayer and then turn to your work and do what. You know what's on your plate. Okay, let's stand, let's pray.

Mark Medley: 47:02

Thank you, father, lord, we're grateful. Thank you, lord, we're grateful. Thank you. Thank you that you're a builder. Jesus, you're the craftsman. You're building my life and my family, and my church and my community.

Mark Medley: 47:29

Thank you, father, that you do this through the gospel. Thank you that you make new creations, lord. Thank you that when we are at the end of ourselves, we can come to you. We can trust this message of the gospel that you, through Christ, have paid for our sins. You, through Christ, forgive us. You, through Christ, redeem our mistakes and make us brand new creations.

Mark Medley: 47:53

Thank you for the hope of the gospel, lord. Thank you for Jesus. Lord, help us to trust your hands. Help us to have a heart for your work. Jesus, help us rid the rubble. Build us into what you desire for us to be, lord. Don't stop when the wall is halfway built, lord, build it all the way. Lord, help us, those of us who are in the long, tired, tedious middle. Lord, would you give us strength and would you give us grace to use our weapons of prayer and the word and each other, to give us strength, fortify us, lord. There's a work that needs to be done. Lord, jesus, build and rebuild my life today, not only in me personally, lord, but build through me. Build through me, build through me in those you have connected me to, in my family, in my church, my community. Thank you, father, thank you for a hope, lord, that, even through opposition, all of this ends in a hope, and I pray for your hope to be the strength of our hearts, god, an anchor of our souls. Lord, in the name of Jesus, amen, amen.