Editor’s Note: The AMI devotionals from Nov. 3-9 are written by Pastor Yohan Lee of Radiance Christian Church (S. F.).
Devotional Thoughts for Today
Nehemiah 6:1-8
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 was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm. 3 And 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?”4 And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner.5 In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports you wish to become their king. 7 And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, ‘There is a king in Judah.’ And now the king will hear of these reports. So now come and let us take counsel together.” 8 Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.”
Recently, my two-year-old son has been getting out of bed at night looking for any and every excuse to not sleep—this habit is killing my wife and me! The other night we had this interaction:
My wife: “Jonny, why aren’t you in bed?”
Jon: “I can’t sleep. There’s a (hard to distinguish) in my bed.”
My wife: “There’s a lion in your bed?”
Jon: (contemplating if this is believable) “Yes.”
My wife: “Well, I’ll go see and chase the lion away.”
My wife then proceeded to “look for” and “chase” the lion away so that my son could go back to sleep. Great parenting, right? Wrong. Within five minutes, my son got up again—this time claiming thirst; then five minutes after that, he was afraid of the dark. Finally, after a few of these incidents, we had to talk straight to our son: “Jon, if you get out of bed again, you are going to get spanked. And that is going to hurt.” The message was sent—he did not come out again.
Sometimes, in order to cut through the baloney and the silly excuses, we need to talk straight and make some difficult call outs. Look at today’s passage: When Sanballat and Tobiah hear that the wall of Jerusalem is almost done, they invite Nehemiah for a visit with the hopes of harming him and halting its completion (v. 2). At first, Nehemiah tries to redirect them by saying that he is “too busy” (v. 3), but after four more similar attempts, Sanballat comes back with this fictitious treason accusation (vv. 6-7). Finally, Nehemiah is forced to shoot straight and calls out Sanballat’s baloney: “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind” (v.8).
Now how does this apply to us today? Let me share something: Whether they are two, thirty-two, and presumably seventy-two years old, people will still come up with elaborate excuses as to why they are not doing what they should be doing (or doing what they shouldn’t be doing). Of course, as they grow older, the excuses become more reasonable than having a “lion in the bed,” but they are nevertheless excuses. So you may have heard of the following: “Everyone else does it”; “I’m just trying to be real or true to myself”; “I’m not hurting anyone”; or “I have unresolved daddy issues,” etc. As a community in Christ, it is probably most loving to start subtly in helping another get past the elaborate excuses. However, there may come a time when we must be willing to cut through the baloney and shoot straight with our friends and call out sinful behavior, misguided thinking, or selfish hearts.
Prayer
Father, thank You for the community I have. Help me to be wise and bold to share the truth in love. Also, let me see what excuses or stories I am using to disobey You.
Bible Reading for Today: Zechariah 10-11
When I worked as an engineer, the company that employed me had a multi-service contract with the county. This basically meant that for smaller jobs, the county would simply hire us to do the work, without putting the job out to be bid on by other firms—this contract was like a license to print money! As the lead engineer for this one particular project, I put the proposal together and submitted it to the VP for approval, only to have it come back for almost double the amount of what I had calculated it would take to get done. I remember feeling that had if we had to compete for this project, this proposal would have been more reasonable, but my boss was using the multi-service contract to milk the county. What made it worse for me was that we were essentially stealing public money; I felt like such a dirty politician. Now to be clear, I was too wimpy to flat out call out the higher-ups about the situation; however, I did subtly express my concerns. I could tell that my boss didn’t believe his numbers to be true either, but because he’d been inflating numbers on these contracts for so long, it really didn’t bother him. Plus, these types of benefits are why you want to win multi-service contracts in the first place.
What are the things that make you angry? Here is my list: having to repeat instructions to my children multiple times, rude or incompetent customer service, spending money at those uppity brunch spots that don’t take reservations but makes you wait for like 90 minutes before seating you (especially when my wife makes me go there when IHOP is right around the corner). The list goes on to overregulation and overspending by our government, taxes—and I haven’t even gotten started on people at church (just kidding).
Metaphorically speaking, how do you eat an elephant? The correct answer is: one bite at a time. The point of this metaphor (or is it a joke?) is that in order to tackle seemingly overwhelming projects, the best and only strategy is to take many, small manageable bites until the project is complete. I know many of you have real, overwhelming problems: stress at work, financial struggles, marital difficulties, troublesome children, aging and sick parents, etc. And on top of it, you may feel like God is distant, and your spiritual life is in neutral or even reverse. As you look at life as a whole, life may seem as impossible as trying to eat an elephant.
We have all had those days at work that were irritatingly stressful, frustratingly unproductive, and/or mind-numbingly tedious. After such days, most of us feel the need to “unwind”—and how we do so depend on the person: Some of us eat comforting foods, others veg out in front of the TV for a couple of hours, or others work out. One pastor shared how he would sometimes have to go walk the aisles of his local grocery story or toy store, not buying anything, but allow the time to clear away the frustration. I suppose each of these methods has a way of calming our nerves and relaxing us a bit, but I wonder whether these forms of unwinding are ultimately beneficial to us, or if they act as just band aids. Honestly, how much can television help us overcome work and family issues? And when we “unwind,” are we seeking resolution or escape?
When it comes to navigating the thin line between being genuinely critical in a constructive sense and being downright discouraging, we struggle (or know someone who struggles); and we probably have, on more than one occasion, erred on the side of insensitivity. Recently, as we were evaluating a certain event in one of our staff meetings, one of the guys started sharing his honest criticisms as to how to make the event better. As he was sharing, you could see the planner of the said event starting to well up with emotion. Soon, tears came out, emotions got a little out of control, and everyone felt a little uncomfortable. This happened because one party was genuinely trying to provide constructive criticism, while the other party only felt discouragement (remember how thin that line is).
It’s the end of October—which means, for me, that it’s the beginning of the NBA season. Despite aging all stars and inexperienced rookies, hope springs in the hearts of every fan right about now. As I was watching the Los Angeles Lakers play their first game, I noticed something about the play of the modern NBA players: everyone is so selfish. It’s now so rare to see players play for their teammates or sacrificially pass the ball so that someone else will stand out and get the recognition that comes with it. From the star player on the team, to the new rookie who needs to prove himself, it just seems like everyone is out to embellish their statistics—perhaps in the hopes of gaining more fame and maybe a bigger contract.
During my college days, I recall a friend’s willingness to drive sixty plus miles to pick up his friend who didn’t have a ride, so that they could go to a retreat together. But on the way to picking him up, he was hit by a car, causing serious injuries to his body. I remember, as a young believer, feeling such bitterness and confusion: How could God allow this? He was only trying to help. He was doing Kingdom work, wasn’t he? 
Richard Branson, the founder of the Virgin Group, started publishing a student magazine at the age of 17. Three years later, he founded Virgin as a record mail order company, and soon opened his first store in London’s Oxford Street. In 1972, he formed the Virgin Records music label, which grew to be one of the world’s top six record companies in the 80s. Since then, the Virgin brand has expanded into flights, rail travel, retail, internet, drinks, hotels and leisure and finance; presently, it’s up to 400 different companies. Richard Branson is a good example of someone who has learned to take small beginnings and expand them into greater horizons.