Hi, friends at Big Valley Grace. I am Aaron Koulos, the executive director of Modesto Pregnancy Center. In Nehemiah 6, we see Sanballat and Geshem coming in opposition against Nehemiah and the Israelites. They were bigger, they were stronger, and had much more influence on their side. And yet we see Nehemiah and the Israelites stand firm and not get distracted from the work that God had called them to do.

At Modesto Pregnancy Center, we can relate. Our state and the tremendous amount of money and power and influence that the abortion industry has seems so strong and mighty. We don’t have their money. We don’t have their political influence. Constantly our patients are being told that they don’t have enough education, they don’t have enough support, they don’t have enough money, or it’s not the right time. And our patients are being told over and over that abortion is the only solution to an unplanned pregnancy.

But here’s what we’re seeing at Modesto Pregnancy Center: when women and men have the courage to choose life, God comes near. We’re watching God protect these little families, provide for their needs, and surround them with a community of support. He does it through an incredible network of churches and ministries, from Modesto Pregnancy Center to Love Inc. to Olivet Commons to Big Valley Grace. The world may have the money. The world might have the power. It has the politicians — but we have God.

So let’s not be distracted by the things that the world tells us are good, or what the world tells us that we need to fear. And let’s not be silent or run away when God calls us to stand. Instead, let us boldly step out in faith and keep building what God has called us to build. We have kingdom work to do. God bless, and hugs.

Welcome and Two Great Truths

Good morning, my friends. How are you? See, that’s good — you all got just a little feel of what we do in men’s ministry, except we scream so loud that we get dust from the ceiling. It’s really kind of fun. Anyway, my name is Rich Sasser. I am your men’s pastor, and man, I’m just really glad to be here today. As I was listening to Aaron — man, they just do an amazing thing — and I guess that’s the whole message today: that God’s big enough and he can accomplish anything. And so anyway, I’m privileged to share with you a little bit out of the book of Nehemiah.

And I guess to start — well, first of all, if you’re new, welcome. I want to welcome you as well, and I hope you feel at home here; I hope you feel loved here. But I also want to say to those of you who’ve been coming a long time, been part of this church: thank you. Thank you for just being faithful.

So we’re going to jump into Nehemiah, but I got to set the stage a little bit, because I’m slow and you’ll find out. I don’t talk slow, so you’re okay with that. But I just need to make things simple. And for me, simplicity is to have things laid out in a way that I can understand them. And so, before we actually get into the Scriptures, I want to share two truths with you. And these two truths are true, because that’s their truth, right? These two truths are true, and you’re going to see how they weave their way through all of this Scripture that we’re going to go through today.

Truth One: We Are All Part of a Much Larger Picture

So the first truth is: we are all part of a much larger picture. Here’s what I need to tell you — and I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news — but the whole world does not revolve around you. You’re laughing, but there’s some of you that are going, “What? What?” It took me a while to figure it out, too. It’s okay. But the reason I share that with you — well, let me share this verse, and then I got a little bit of an analogy I hope you like. This verse is in Proverbs 16:9. It says, “The heart of man plans his ways, but the Lord establishes or directs his steps.” And when you understand that — that we think we have everything that revolves around us, but God has this bigger plan that he’s going to accomplish — it really helps you put things into the right perspective.

But I was trying to think of an example or an analogy I could use to help everybody kind of understand what this really means. And it’s really weird when God does stuff in my life and leads me down these rabbit trails of all the things he made me think about. He made me think about tapestries. And you’re thinking, “What? A men’s guy thinking about tapestries?” I don’t like thinking about it either. But here’s what I found out. First of all, I love building stuff. If you were to go to my garage right now, you would open a garage door and see there’s not enough room for a car in there because I got tools everywhere. I love building stuff. And I got enthralled by this concept of tapestries, and I’m not really sure why, but I jumped down the rabbit hole. Me and YouTube started learning about all kinds of stuff.

And as I was learning about how tapestries are made, I was actually pretty impressed. And then I’m going further and further down the rabbit hole, and I find out that there’s this tapestry in France called the Apocalypse Tapestry. Now, you can see a little picture of it there. This tapestry is 460 feet long and 20 feet high. That’s 9,000 square feet of wool thread — going, wow. Here’s the other thing: it was built, or finished, in 1375. For those math geniuses among you, you’ve already added that up — that’s 651 years ago. That’s a long time ago. And it’s a really interesting thing, because back in this day and age, paintings wouldn’t last very long — but again, this is 650 years old. And it depicts — this is the really interesting part — it’s called the Apocalypse because all of the scenes of it depict the book of Revelation.

And you’re going, “What the heck does that have to do with what we’re talking about today?” Don’t worry, I got you. Here’s what it has to do with it: we — you and I — are like a thread in this tapestry that God is weaving. His tapestry is way bigger than this thing, and his tapestry is this kingdom work, and he’s asking us to play a role and be a thread in it. And you’ll see how it comes together in a moment here. But here’s the thing: when you’re up close, all you see is the thread. When you look at the book of Nehemiah, especially chapter 6, there’s all of these kind of confusing threads, right? Rumors and threats and accusations and betrayals. All of this is going on in this portion of Scripture. And Nehemiah — all Nehemiah sees is just this job that’s in front of him, this thread that he’s working with. But God already saw the wall finished. He already saw what was going to happen with the nation of Israel. Does that make sense? And so that’s the first truth, right? We’re all part of a much larger picture.

Truth Two: There Are No Great Victories Without Great Battles

The second truth is — and this is kind of the painful part of the truth — there are no great victories without great battles. All of the great stuff that God wants to do in your life, all of the amazing things he wants to accomplish through you, will not be done without opposition. They’ll not be done without some pain and some difficulty. And when you finally get the feeling and you understand that, you go, “Oh, that’s why, when I’m doing what God asked me to do, stuff gets tough.”

And so the verse that goes with that is 1 Peter 4:12 and 13. It says this: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trials when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share in Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” What he’s saying is, in the midst of this tapestry that God is weaving and that you’re part of — your life — you may be a portion of the thread that gets squeezed, that has to get dyed, that has to get stretched, that has to get bent around things. And there’s going to be difficulties. But because God can see the end product, all of a sudden you go, oh, okay — there’s a purpose for the pain, the stretching, the knots that are in my life. And so those are the two truths I want you to hold on to for a minute.

Setting the Stage: Where Nehemiah Fits

Next up on the screen, I’m going to put a diagram, if you will — a timeline. And I know you can’t read it unless you got really good eyes. I just want you to know that this is posted on our website; you can go to it and print it off. It’s really good. But I had to get this view, this understanding of where this story fit in the Old Testament. And so for me, one of the things that surprised me was, as I looked at this, I realized that the story of Ezra and Nehemiah — even though they’re placed kind of in the first half of the Old Testament — actually refer to the last 150 years of recorded history in the Old Testament. At the end of it is the 400 years of silence before Christ comes. Okay, so that was kind of a thing.

And if you’re a newer believer, or this is your first time in church, let me give you just a broad overview real quick so you understand what we’re talking about. The Old Testament — the part of the Bible before Jesus came — starts with God creating people, and he loved everything he created, including Adam and Eve. But he wanted Adam and Eve to love him back. And those knuckleheads blew it. You may not have known that, but yeah — they decided, no, we want to do it our way, because the world revolves around us, right? And so the Old Testament then becomes not a story of history, not a textbook — it becomes this story of God continually trying to redeem, bring back a relationship with his people. And so in that redemptive work there’s just a whole history of things, and it’s really interesting when you understand the flow of it and see how it works, right? Because as you get farther and farther into the Old Testament, you see that he picks out his own people, this nation called Israel. The people of Israel were supposed to be his missionaries, his ambassadors, to the rest of the world. They didn’t do so good at that either. And so in this process of God continually working with them, they kept choosing to go into idolatry; they kept choosing to make all kinds of other things more important than God.

And so now they get to this place to where God says — and he told them he was going to do it — God says, “I’m going to put you in captivity. You’re going to go into slavery. You’re going to be conquered by these other countries, and you’re going to get scattered all over the world, and you’re going into timeout.” That’s what it is — it’s this national timeout for not behaving like you’re supposed to. Now, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah are right at the end of that. So that should give you some context.

Just a couple of interesting notes. If you read the book of Ezra, which is the one right before Nehemiah, it sounds like it’s just this really quick thing. And it’s not, because over this 150 years there are seven different kings. And in those seven different kingdoms, God’s hand is moving in some pretty unique ways in all of them. Should answer a question about, can God work through evil rulers? Yes, he can. Matter of fact, we should be praying that he would do more of that. Okay, just personal — I’m not going to get political. And so he moves the heart of this king, Cyrus the Great, to rebuild the altar. And so in 538 BC, he is literally sending about 40 to 45,000 Jews out of captivity, out of slavery, back to Israel. And just a few years later, they build this altar, and then it kind of stops. And as you read, it’s like, well, the next chapter would happen. No — there’s like 16 years before they do anything. And then they start laying the foundation of the temple, and then they build the temple again. And the temple is a poor imitation of Solomon’s temple, but it’s a temple now, and it’s in Israel.

And then what you find out is it’s literally almost 80 years — 78 years — between when Cyrus says, “I want the Jews to go home and build their temple,” to when Ezra actually goes. In the book of Ezra it’s like two chapters. So it’s almost 80 years. Ezra finally goes back. And most of us think, well, Nehemiah is like a contemporary — not actually. Ezra is in Jerusalem like 13 years before Nehemiah comes. Okay? And so it’s spread out; there’s a lot of interesting stuff going on. By the time Nehemiah gets to Jerusalem, it’s not just a ragtag bunch of people — there’s probably 50 to 55,000 Jewish people who are now in and around Jerusalem. So it’s not just a little group of people; I mean, there’s a whole city’s worth of people there. And now he’s going to start leading them, and they’re going to build this wall. So that’s the timeline.

The next one I’m not going to spend much time on, but it’ll be interesting for you to look at, because it breaks down the book of Nehemiah into kind of eight sections. And we’re going to be in section number six right now, about the wall being completed. Does that make sense? So, enough of me talking about that — now we’re going to get to the scripture. I know you’re thinking, this guy’s going to talk way too long. You’re okay.

Attack One: Distraction — Don’t Go to Ono

So if you would open up your Bibles to Nehemiah chapter 6. By the way, you should remember that Joel talked about the attacks — about having to put bricks up with one hand and have a sword in the other. Those were physical attacks that were coming from the outside. And now we’re just right past that stage.

So this is what it says at the beginning of chapter 6, verse 1. Now — by the way, I’m going to tell you right now, these guys’ names are goofy. I got them down; I’ve been practicing them, and I’m getting closer. But there’s a couple of these words — and it’s okay if you’re reading through this and you can’t figure out what Sanballat and Tobiah is — just call them Sandy and Toby. And it helps you. You go, “Okay, Sandy and Toby are the enemies.” Anyway, so here we go: “Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there were no breaches left in it” — oh, okay, so the wall is finished. But this is really interesting. In parentheses it says, “although up to that time I had not yet set the doors in the gates.” I just laugh about this, because you start to get a little bit of Nehemiah’s personality. Nehemiah is one of those detail-oriented guys. You know, the guy that always wants to count exactly what the tip is; the guy that has everything so well organized that if you get him off plan, he goes, “Ah.” There are people like that out there. Nehemiah is a very detail-oriented guy. And I bring that up now because here, in a couple more verses, we’re going to see how it makes a difference.

Anyway, it says here: “Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, ‘Come, let us meet together in Hakkephirim, in the plain of Ono.’” Oh no. Here’s the thing — right off the bat, you don’t need to go to a meeting in a place called Ono. I mean, that’s like a sign. God’s going, “Don’t go where it says oh no.” “But they intended to do me harm.”

And so here’s what you need to know, guys: as you’re doing God’s work, there are forces out there that mean to do you harm. We go through this world kind of — I get to say this about myself; I would never say it about you — but just fat, dumb, and happy, and it’s like everything’s going to be okay. And the fact is, no, there’s enemies out there. We have spiritual enemies that are out there looking to kill, steal, and destroy. You can see it going on in our world, can’t you? And so part of this is not being surprised — like it says in 1 Peter — that there’s trials and there’s difficulties out there. There are some of you right now who are going through difficulties and trials. I’m here to tell you this book will be an encouragement to you, because there are godly responses to the stuff that might be going on in your life. Okay? And so again — don’t go somewhere that’s called Ono. Leave that alone.

Nehemiah’s Response: “I Am Doing a Great Work”

And so from there, now we hear Nehemiah’s response, in verses 3 and 4: “I sent messengers to them, saying, ‘I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?’ And they sent to me four more times in the same way, and I answered them in the same manner.” In other words, he knows that they have ill intent — that they want to keep him from doing his job.

Well, here’s the thing. When you’re doing God’s work, when you’re just trying to live a life following Jesus, there are going to be things that get in your way. There are going to be attacks, but there are also going to be distractions. And these guys are being a distraction. Got to ask you this: what is it that distracts you in your life? I’m going to tell you what distracts me way too much. You know what I’m going to pull out of my back pocket, don’t you?

I got to tell you this. I was in Yellowstone the last two weeks doing some photography work, which is one of my favorite things to do. And there were so many people in the park that never saw the park. All they saw was this — on poles and sticks, taking pictures of themselves. I would think you would get sick of seeing pictures of yourself. I mean, I get sick of seeing pictures of myself. But here’s the thing — and I’m not just picking on cell phones, guys; social media, all that stuff — but just think of all the things that are distractions in your life. God’s saying, listen, if you want to get through the difficulties of life, don’t be distracted from your calling. Keep focused on your calling. That’s what Nehemiah is doing here.

Attack Two: Slander — The Open Letter

So, first attack: hey, come out so we can beat you up, right? Second attack — well, he’s not dumb enough to go to Ono. And so the next thing they try is: hey, let’s start putting some false accusations out there. Let’s slander this guy; let’s ruin his reputation. And so this is what it says in verse 5: “In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand.” It’s really interesting — it’s specifically that he says “an open letter in his hand.” Those four invitations were letters sent directly to him; they were sealed; they were on parchment; they were sealed with Tobiah’s name so he knew who it came from, and it was given. Now he’s literally sending a guy out to advertise everything he’s saying in this letter, so everybody will know. It didn’t go just to Nehemiah. And so it says, “an open letter in his hand.”

And in it was written: “It is reported among the nations — and Geshem also says it” — by the way, when somebody falsely accuses you, isn’t it interesting how they want to rally their friends? People on my side going to say, hey, what he’s saying is right. That’s what Sanballat is doing here. He says: “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel; this is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports, you wish to become their king. And you have set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, ‘There is a king in Judah.’ Now the king, Artaxerxes, will hear of these reports. So now come, and let us counsel together.” In other words: we’re going to go tell the king who sent you that you’re going to rebel, and we’re going to get you in big trouble.

False accusations. Here’s the interesting thing — and this is why I brought up, a couple verses before, Nehemiah and his detail stuff. Do you know what Nehemiah’s job was before he came back to Jerusalem? He was a cupbearer to the king. He was on a first-name basis with the king. The king knew him, and he had a relationship with him. And this guy is so detail-oriented — do you think he was out there and not giving reports to Artaxerxes about everything that was going on? Of course he was. That’s that detail-oriented guy. And so now all these false accusations come, and Nehemiah’s going, yeah, go ahead, send him a letter. Matter of fact, better off, Sanballat — why don’t you go visit him in person and see how he reacts to you going after me? ‘Cause I got a friend in high places. Well, Nehemiah had friends in the highest of places. By the way, that’s the same friend that we have in the highest of places, right?

And so this is his godly response, in verse 8: “Then I sent to him, saying, ‘No such things as you have said have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.’” You’re just making this stuff up. And he’s calling him out. “For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking that their hands would drop from the work and it would not be done.” And then he finishes this godly response with: “Now, O God, strengthen my hands.”

See, here’s the thing: even when you’re under attack and there are difficulties going on in your life, there’s a place where you’re at the end of yourself, where it’s like, I can’t do anything else. And he’s saying, God, I really need your strength right now. Some of you are in a place right now where the difficulties, the pain, the sorrow, the mourning seems like it’s so much that all you can do is ask God for his strength. And that’s the great God that we have, because he will give you the strength to go on.

Attack Three: Spiritual Deception — The Hired Prophet

And so that’s where we’re at in the story now. Next — you know, the threats haven’t worked, the subterfuge hasn’t worked, the false accusation hasn’t worked — now we’re going to get sneaky. The enemy loves being sneaky, right? This is verse 10. Spiritual deception is going on. It says: “Now I went into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, and said” — by the way, Shemaiah is part of the court, part of the religious system that’s going on there, right? And he says, “Come, let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night.”

And so now, from the inside, from the religious establishment, he’s hearing: hey man, we’re here to protect you; we’re here to make sure that nothing happens to you. But God has given Nehemiah — because he’s so close and has such a great relationship with God — a sense that something’s not right. And we see that in the very next verse. It says: “But I said, ‘Should such a man as I run away? What man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in.’” Do we run away from our problems? Do we run away from the difficulties? I mean, we have a tendency to — man, our culture is all about comfort, and all about not having to experience pain, and not having to go through difficulties. But because Nehemiah has his calling in mind, he knows who he’s serving; he knows that God is creating this tapestry that’s bigger than he is. He’s going, am I that kind of guy, that I should run away? By the way, when he says that, the words I would use is: I couldn’t live with myself if I ran away and hid because of what these guys are doing.

And so listen to what he says next. It’s really cool. He says: “I understood, and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.” Ah — spies in the house, right? “For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in a way and sin, so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me.” And in verse 14, he actually is now praying. He says: “Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid.”

The enemy wants you to be afraid. Man, we live in a society, in a culture, that perpetuates fear everywhere you go. You spend much time watching the news, you spend much time on social media, you’re going to see all the reasons that you should be afraid. And God’s saying, no — my people aren’t going to be afraid. I’ve called them; I’ve empowered them; I want them to move forward even amidst the difficulties, and I don’t want them to live in fear. You know, when you think of the way the enemy does stuff: he distracts us, right? He accuses us. He wants us to be in fear. And God’s saying, that’s not my plan; it’s not the way I have this worked out for you. And so you got to ask yourself: how often are you operating in fear? And I hope not. I pray that you guys would put your fear aside and depend and trust on God. And so, by the way, that’s part of this godly response, right? He says, should I run away? No — I want you to stand up and trust me. Stand up and trust me.

The Victory: The Wall Finished in 52 Days

And then in verses 15 and 16, the victory is achieved. It says: “So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month of Elul, in fifty-two days.” Fifty-two days. And the wall and the gates all done. And this is what it says: “And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.”

So as you think about the difficulties that you’re going through in your life, and you look at the way that Nehemiah responded, all of a sudden you get to go, oh, okay — I can make it through this with God’s help. I can trust that he has a plan that maybe I can’t see. I can only see the threads in front of me; I can’t see the whole picture. But God’s working in me and around me, and he wants to use me as part of that picture of the tapestry, to show a lost and suffering world that there’s a way to make it through that. You know, man, I really wish that when I got saved it was like, okay, I’m saved, I’m done, I’m going to heaven — I really wouldn’t, you know, why would you want to stay here? But here’s the thing: all the difficulties, all the trials, all the stuff in our life is so God can use our lives to show people who he is. And the difficulties are one of the ways that he does that.

The Enemy Doesn’t Go Away: Verses 17–19

And so the last three verses, 17–19, are just a reminder that even when the wall’s built, even when you’ve accomplished something spiritually, the enemy doesn’t go away. It says this: “Moreover, in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them.” In other words, there’s this back-and-forth between people inside the wall with Tobiah, the enemy. Verse 18: “For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Eliashib” — oh my gosh, right. I’m not even going to try and untangle that family mess. But it says in verse 19: “Also they spoke of his good deeds” — they spoke of Tobiah’s good deeds in my presence — in other words, hey, he’s a good guy — “and reported my words to him.” In other words, even from inside the family, he’s getting spied on, and the enemy is still looking for ways to destroy what God has done. “And Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid.”

Four Godly Responses

And so, here’s the godly responses. There’s four godly responses, and these are just a quick way to think of them. The first one is that Nehemiah was focused on God’s calling. He knew what his job was, and he focused on doing the job that God gave him. The second one: Nehemiah prayed for God’s strength through difficulties, and he wasn’t surprised when difficulties came. The third thing: Nehemiah stood strong and trusted in God. And then the fourth thing was that Nehemiah was blessed to see the results of God’s work.

Rich’s Story

So I’m going to bring that together, but I’m going to stop right now and just share a little of my story. I think one of the reasons that Joel asked me to be here — you know how we’ve had video testimonies as part of the messages over the last couple months — this is the video testimony, so you just have to pretend I’m up there. Okay? And I know I’m an old guy, and so to give you my full testimony would take a long time. I’m just going to give you the highlights.

I was born and then adopted at three days old. Cute, fat little kid. Was adopted into a household of factory workers. Both my mom and dad were factory workers, and they were great, down-to-earth people. But God was never mentioned in my home, unless mom stubbed her toe or dad slipped a wrench out in the garage. It was the only time I heard God’s name, and it wasn’t a happy thought. And so that was life. And there were good parts; I learned a lot. But I didn’t have any spiritual kind of upbringing or thoughts in my life.

And then in high school, I had two buddies. One of which got killed in a motorcycle accident in the parking lot of Downey High School, popping a wheelie, showing off to a girl. Okay — we were young; I didn’t say we were smart. And then a month later, another one of my buddies, Jim, took his own life with a shotgun. And honestly, I did not know how to deal with it. I didn’t know what to do with the pain, the sorrow, the why. You know, isn’t that “why” the big question that really messes us up when we’re in the midst of difficulties? And somewhere in that process, one of the guys I played football with shared the gospel with me. And so, as a junior in high school, I came to know Jesus as my Savior. And that was a really good thing.

And then it didn’t take me long to realize that I just wasn’t doing this very well. Matter of fact, the first, I don’t know, dozen years of my Christian life, I thought this was like a rulebook. And I got to be honest with you — I’m not very good at keeping rules. You’re laughing. Yeah. I’ve been called an iconoclast. I had to look it up in the dictionary — it’s just somebody that doesn’t like rules. Okay. But I guess I would put it this way: there were good things that happened during those early days in my Christian life. God was still working, but I had one foot in the world and my other foot in the kingdom. And honestly, my life was a disaster, because it was like I had an “I’m going to heaven” insurance policy in my back pocket and Jesus had signed it, right? And so, because I’m not worrying about that, I’m going to spend all my time over here having fun, doing stupid stuff. And literally that went on through college, that went on through a young marriage — my wife stopped and stayed with me; it was a miracle.

And so I’m in my fire department career now, and I’m just acting just like the rest of the idiots — I’m sorry, they’re good guys, but they like to party and do silly stuff. And I just got to a place to where I was about ready to lose my wife, my kids, my job. My life was a disaster. And God — I believe he gave me an ultimatum. Now, he didn’t write me a letter; he didn’t send me a contract. He just, in my soul, I knew that he was saying: I’ve had enough of your behavior. You’re either going to be an all-in follower of me — you’re going to finally surrender to me — or you’re done. And oh, I’m so grateful that he moved me to say yes. Because literally at that point, my life really started. I was just faking life before that. My life really started.

And so ministry started going well. I started working with high school kids — I mean, all kinds of stuff. I could go on and on about how God blessed me and how I got to be part of his kingdom work. And about the time I retired from the fire department, I thought I was going to be in the mission field. I’d been doing a lot of short-term mission work and stuff. I thought I was going to be in the mission field, and God shut all those doors. And he said, “No, I got a different plan for you, Rich. I want you to invest in the lives of men. That’s your calling.” And it’s like, what’s that mean? He says, “Oh, you’re going to become a pastor.” Are you kidding? I like to laugh with him. It’s like, God, you know who I am. You know what a mess I am, a loser I am. You can’t do that. And he says, “Oh yeah.” Listen — if no other lesson, here’s what I want you to know: God can use each and every one. If he can use me to do this, he can use anybody, ’cause I’m a mess. And so, man, that’s going really good. By the way, I’ve had the pleasure of being a men’s pastor here for almost 17 years. Oh, don’t clap about that. My poor guys are going, “Oh gosh, yeah, we can’t wait till he leaves.”

But here’s the thing. God can do some amazing stuff. But I got to tell you the main part of this story, which is the last five and a half years of my life. In the last five and a half years, I’ve had five major surgeries. Two of them were to fuse my whole back together. Matter of fact, I got more titanium in the back of me right now than most airplanes — although I can’t fly. Really significant stuff. In the midst of that, COVID hits. My wife gets COVID in January, and survives it and is okay. I have my back surgeries. We get to early June; the Delta variant comes out; I get COVID, and she catches it again, and 21 days later she’s gone. Went home. My girl of 44 years of marriage. And it’s like, man. In the hospital, while she was in the hospital, I go blind in my right eye, because I detached a retina. Couple more surgeries. Hip surgery. I mean, just bang, bang, bang. And it’s finally like, I’m getting back to where everything’s going to be okay — and then my son, my only son, who was following Jesus for a while, got caught up in sin. He got caught up in sin, and got found out, and then tried to kill himself, and wasn’t successful, and now he’s in prison. And it’s just like — as you can imagine, it was just devastating. Still devastating.

So I just want you to know that the things that you’re going through, we go through too. Here’s the thing that I found that was just amazing, though: as I looked at this section in Nehemiah, I realized that part of the reason I survived that six years is because I focused on God’s calling. I knew what God asked me to do, and I kept trying to do it. You each have a calling. Every one of you — God has a specific calling and a purpose for you, and he wants you to find and hold on to that purpose. The second thing was that I prayed a lot, and I had a lot of people praying for me. This is the third part, where it says stand strong and trust God — there was a lot of time when I had trouble trusting God in the midst of that. It was hard to see the bigger picture when the thread in front of me looked like a disaster. But here’s what I’m going to tell you: I don’t survive that without having a community of guys in my life that were walking alongside of me, praying for me, encouraging me, correcting me, holding me on, pushing me forward — all of the stuff that I needed to survive that. Man, don’t ever neglect how important it is to be in a community of believers.

And so as I came through that — I got a couple extra minutes — there was one guy in particular. I don’t know how many of you guys remember a guy named Gordon. Little Portuguese guy, about that tall. The orneriest cuss you’ve ever met. Six years before this happened to me, he came home and found his wife dead on the floor in their bedroom. I just happened to be right there, and walked with him through that, and just became his friend. The day after my wife died, he shows up on my doorstep and he says, “It’s my turn.” You can’t replace relationships like that. You got to build them.

Anyway, I have been able to see the blessing that has resulted in that six years of difficulty, and here’s the way I’ve seen it. I’ve become a lot more humble. It’s actually really interesting — I’m not particularly an empathetic and compassionate man; I am now, because I learned what it was like to be in pain. We got a dozen guys in men’s ministry now that are all widowers that I would have never been able to relate to. There are guys that I know — I’m looking out and seeing some now that I know are in constant pain — I get it. Here’s what I tell you: the God that we serve is faithful. Absolutely faithful. And he will get us through. And at the end there’ll be this amazing tapestry that we get to be part of.

Closing Questions

And so I just wanted to share that with you. As I finish up, though, I have a few questions for you.

Have you finally, fully surrendered to Christ? Or are you still living with a foot in both worlds? It’s time. And I guarantee you, you’ll never be unhappy that you made that choice. Because when you make that choice, God breaks open a whole new world, and it’s a really good world.

Have you found your calling? You got to know what God has for you to do. You can’t just go through life going, “I’m just here.” He’s got a purpose; he’s got a place for you to serve; he’s got a way for you to use your gifts. And he gives you gifts to use for the benefit of others.

In the midst of difficulties, are you calling out for God’s strength? Are you spending time in the Word and prayer, and asking him to comfort you in the midst of that?

Are you trusting that God has a greater plan? Because he does. He has a greater plan and picture that you’re part of.

And last of all: are you connected to God’s people? Our church here, our staff here, is here for the purpose of helping you with all of that. And in the midst of that, I just want you to know: I can’t fix your problems, but God can. I can’t move you, but God can. Ask God how he needs to move you today, and let him move you to wherever he needs to move you, so that your life might be blessed and the kingdom might be enriched.

Father God, I just pray for my brothers and sisters this morning — God, that you would watch over them, that you would tend to their lives, that you would guide and direct them, Lord. That you’d give them a heart like you have: a heart for people who need to be loved, and a heart for people who are lost. Father, for those who are in pain, for those who are going through hard times, those who are going through difficulties — help them to take their eyes off of those issues and look at you. Help them through; give them strength, Lord. And as a church, Lord, help us to love one another in a way that just makes the tapestry beautiful in your eyes. I just thank you and praise you for the opportunity to share with my brothers and sisters, and give them a great afternoon. In Jesus’ name. And all God’s people said, “Amen.” Thank you, my friends.