Raising the Roof of Faith - Confronting/Overcoming Adversity

Week 3: October 17 - 23

Nehemiah 4:6-23
So we rebuilt the wall, and all the wall was joined together to half its height; for the people had a mind to work.

But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and the gaps were beginning to be closed, they were very angry, and all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. So we prayed to our God, and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.

But Judah said, ‘The strength of the burden-bearers is failing, and there is too much rubbish, so that we are unable to work on the wall.’ And our enemies said, ‘They will not know or see anything before we come upon them and kill them and stop the work.’ When the Jews who lived near them came, they said to us ten times, ‘From all the places where they live they will come up against us.’ So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. After I looked these things over, I stood up and said to the nobles and the officials and the rest of the people, ‘Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your kin, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.’

When our enemies heard that their plot was known to us, and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his work. From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and body-armour; and the leaders posted themselves behind the whole house of Judah, who were building the wall. The burden-bearers carried their loads in such a way that each laboured on the work with one hand and with the other held a weapon. 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, the officials, and the rest of the people, ‘The work is great and widely spread out, and we are separated far from one another on the wall. Rally to us wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet. Our God will fight for us.’

So we laboured at the work, and half of them held the spears from break of dawn until the stars came out. I also said to the people at that time, ‘Let every man and his servant pass the night inside Jerusalem, so that they may be a guard for us by night and may labour by day.’ So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me ever took off our clothes; each kept his weapon in his right hand.

Commentary
Adversity is a part of life. As relatively autonomous individuals between the doorposts of birth and death, we can all be assured that as we interact with the world and each other, that we will face adversity. Some adversity is external. Nature. Economic circumstances. Viruses. War. Illness. Conflict with family; your spouse, children, or parents. Other adversity is internal such as the depression and hopelessness that come as we wrestle spiritually an psychologically with our place in this world--and are tempted to let circumstances overtake and conquer our spirits. But inherent in all adversity is the opportunity to exercise the strength of our spirits, flexing the muscle of our souls, and seeing and experiencing our human capacity to overcome.

On some occasions what we face externally or internally will be greater than we can rightly handle. I know that popular spiritual wisdom tells us that God never gives us more than we can handle. But this presupposes that it is God that is giving us the adversity in the first place. I don’t believe that this assertion can stand in the light and reality of Jesus. The cross was more than he could handle. It did in fact kill him. But the revelation in the midst of the adversities of life -- even those that will take our lives -- is that God has the last word. There is no adversity you or I will ever face that is bigger than him or his unique power to overcome. This is the good news: that even when we are overcome by life and its adversity, God is still greater.

Questions for Discussion
1. If you are willing to share, identify two kinds of adversity from you own life. First identify a situation that tested and stretched you but through which your own human spirit triumphed. Next, identify an experience where your human capacities were not enough to get you through and where you had to totally rely on God. In each situation, what did you learn about yourself and you Creator?
2. Where is God when the adversity in you life is greatest? How do you know where God is in these times?
3. If life sometimes hands us more than we can handle, then how do Christ’s cross and resurrection become good news for us?