“The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.” (Nehemiah 4:10)
There were times, during the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, when the people got discouraged and came close to giving up. Whenever we attempt to address some weakness in our lives – be it an addiction, a sinful attitude, an unwillingness to change – opposition will come. In the case of the men and women of Israel seeking to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem that were torn down during their time in exile, that opposition came in the form of the grandiose nature of the task before them and the taunts and negative propaganda of those neighboring nations who did not want to see Israel strong again.
Whenever we seek to rebuild our lives, there will be those who oppose us, whether it’s real people in our lives or the unseen forces of darkness who are against us. There are always those who stand to lose by us getting healthy, and you can be sure they will oppose our attempts to strengthen the weaknesses in our lives. In psychological terms, this is called codependency – the people and forces that have made alliances with our weaknesses and who will lose their role in our lives should we get strong.
Marti likes to wake up gradually. She loves the snooze button. Sometimes I am the snooze button as she asks me for ten more minutes. Am I going to say, “No way, you asked me to get you up so here goes,” as I throw the covers off and pull her out of bed. I could do that, but I don’t. Why? Because I have made certain alliances with this little charade. There are little rewards to this: I get the paper to myself, I get more morning quiet time, etc. She’s a night person; I’m a morning person; this is the way it works. If it suddenly became important for her to get up at the first bell, she probably wouldn’t get a lot of help from me. You can see how this works on a much larger scale with much more devastating behaviors.
This also works inside ourselves in that we have made alliances with our own weaknesses through the excuses our weakness provide us. There is added responsibility to being well. These codependencies will taunt our attempts to rebuild. So what did Nehemiah do in face of this?
He said, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”
First, and most important of all, remember the Lord. He is great and awesome, He wants us to be healthy and strong, and He is on our side. Second, fight it. The scripture says that Nehemiah went ahead and posted extra people with swords and spears to guard against attack at the weakest points in the wall.
We need to know where the opposition will come from and be on guard against it. We need to pay the most attention to our weaknesses. The strongest attacks will come from the weakest parts of our wall. Don’t kid yourself; this will not be easy. We have, in some cases, a lifetime of dysfunctional behavior tied up in these weaknesses. Only the Lord, who is great and awesome, can help us prevail.
Okay, Marti’s up now… Time’s up for me.
John Fischer The Catch 
Hey I got the Catch today and as always I enjoyed reading it, so thx Pastor John 4 it and watever u did so I cud get it again, appreciate it – also you and your gorgeous wife Marti – I too once hit the snooze button often, yet now it’s kind of funny becauz i don’t have to get up and be some where, like work – it’s easy 4 me (or easier) to get up and check my blood sugar early in the morning, yet i do more times than not, crawl back to bed and sleep or rest 4 a bit…
God’s speed and many blessings to the John & Marti Fisher family
PS i once read bed is like a bad habit, easy to get into yet hard to get out off – and i do hate the bad habit i’ve let myself get into, of swearing, yet i can report i am doing much better at not letting myself cuss so easily and often… than again some days are better then others… and the Holy Spirit does a great job more time then not to promt me to stop!
Comments is an odd place to issue a challenge, but here goes – SO many people read the Catch, I don’t understand why everyone who values it isn’t giving. Even $5 or $10 from EVERY reader would take care of John and Marti. And we should do that since the Catch helps us take care of our souls. Although I’m not rich and am just an admin in an office, I’m grateful to have a job, and grateful for the Catch, and for my salvation and for my kids and my health and…. (not in order of importance, though), so I will match today’s donations up to $500. Go people! Help out! Force me to give until it hurts (financially, at least). And of those of you who have given, thank you! (but it’s okay to give more than once, just like to our brick-and-mortar churches). God bless!
God bless you Lisa Davenport and I pray His speed and watchful eye over you and your loved ones. I love your challenge and i too have wondered about the Catch readers as you wrote: “…don’t understand why everyone who values it isn’t giving.” Speaking only 4 myself I’ve grown and learned sooo much from it and I love the Catch community too. As many know, I am on a disability income, yet I can find 20 bucks a month to give and it’s worth every penny – also some sweet day i’ll be able to give sooooooo much more then that…
It is so sad to lose a home, have to relocate, change communities, etc. I understand more than you realize. I lost over $640,000.00 when I sold my property and the buyers turned out to be less than honest. I am widowed and retired. That money was to be my security for retirement. I found I had to live on $1,200.00 per month social security. Not easy.
God has been faithful, however, and I’m glad He promised that His children would never have to beg for bread because He will take care of us.
I hope you do not lose your home, but if worse comes to worse, don’t despair. If God wants The Catch to continue, you can be sure it will.