Endurance

The book of Nehemiah offers a sort of case study in enduring through unique and not so unique opposition. To summarize, Nehemiah is a cupbearer to the Persian king, under whom Israel fell into captivity years before. Nehemiah receives a report that the walls in Jerusalem have fallen into disrepair, so he asks the king if he might return to Jerusalem and begin rebuilding what has been lying in ruins for years. The king grants him permission and sends him on his journey with everything he needs to get the party started. Of course, when he finally enters Jerusalem, a less friendly group of Israelites is not entirely thrilled with Nehemiah’s arrival or his plans to gather the people and begin renovating the broken walls. Nehemiah pushes through and prevails but not without Kardashian-level drama unfolding at almost every turn. As we get to Nehemiah 4, the opposition becomes so fierce that Nehemiah has the people arm themselves with a sword in one hand while they work with the other.

“From that day on, half of my men did the work while the other half held spears, shields, bows, and armor. The officers supported all the people of Judah, who were rebuilding the wall. The laborers who carried the loads worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other.” (Neh. 4:16–17)

What an apt description for what pastoring feels like much of the time. We put on the armor of God from Ephesians 6, knowing that it’s what we need to fight off the spiritual resistance Paul tells us is ever present in our lives. And yet people all around us are still throwing mud and slinging arrows that somehow find their way through the cracks in our spiritual armor. We take hits to the heart and bleed internally as a result. We understand the underlying spiritual component that exists at the heart of it all, but we still feel these things physically, spiritually, and emotionally because we are embodied souls that are affected in the most thoroughly human ways.

Taking courageous action is how endurance finds fresh soil to plant roots of divine depth in feeble pastors like you and me. And since it probably needs to be stated, taking courageous action is not the bully’s approach, either. Godly courage is always grounded in the grace of humility. The reason we can even take courageous action is because we know who equips us, who strengthens us, who walks before us, and who stands beside us. Thewhois our everything. The who is where the action steps that come out of our courage will be activated.

The Work Is Really Hard, but We Are in Good Hands

“Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.” (Jude 24–25)

You aren’t in this alone. You are being kept by the one who says, “I was protecting them by your name … I guarded them and not one of them is lost” (John 17:12).

Unless the Lord builds a house, its builders labor over it in vain; unless the Lord watches over a city, the watchman stays alert in vain. In vain you get up early and stay up late, working hard to have enough food—yes, he gives sleep to the one he loves. (Ps. 127:1–2)

He keeps watch over you and the sheep when you rest. There will be a day “when the chief Shepherd appears.” We will not always be doing this hard work of shepherding. One day we will hear him say, “Well done good and faithful servant, enter into your rest.”

Thank you for reading!

We hope you enjoyed this plan, which is based on Pastoring Small Towns (B&H Publishing Group, 2023). Click here to learn more about the book.