Surviving Sanballat

On Monday, I sent out my monthly e-zine to my Book Buddies. (If you're not a Book Buddy yet, just pop over to my contact page and leave your email). Several folks who read the e-zine shared that they were in the midst of a Sanballat battle, so I thought I'd post this devotion on my blog, as well.

Surviving Sanballat

Today I turned to Nehemiah for encouragement. So much of his struggle
resonates with me. Especially chapter 4, verse 10. "The strength of the
laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild
the wall."

Do you ever feel like there's just too much rubble in the way? I'm trying
to be faithful in my calling to write - in making progress on revisions
and my current manuscript. But I've been stalled out, distracted, and
sometimes dismayed by the rubble that gets in the way. In my life, that
can include my emotions - loneliness and depression creep in quickly.
Anxiety is another tough one. Will I make the best choices for this
character, this paragraph, this sentence? Will my editors like the new
book? Will my sales improve? Can I really survive this crazy writing life
with all it's strange adventures?

Nehemiah started out strong. He rebuilt the wall to half its height, "for
the people worked with all their heart."

But Sanballat and his pals continued to jeer, to mock, and to plot against
Nehemiah and the other people in Jerusalem, making the job that much more
difficult.

I hear Sanballat's echoes almost every day. "What are those feeble Jews
doing? . . . Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to
life from those heaps of rubble--burned as they are?"

Nehemiah spoke a response to the weary builders. "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."

Today a friend reminded me that if a theme in one of my books touches
someone's heart and encourages them, my work has value. She helped me
realize that in my writing work I am "fighting for my brothers, sons,
daughters..." I want to offer stories that draw eyes to God. Just as
Nehemiah issued a call to courage by saying "remember the Lord," I want my
stories to reflect and remember the Lord - His love, His grace, His
strength.

Nehemiah doesn't throw his words out flippantly. Sweat ran into his eyes,
blisters grated his hands as he lifted the next brick, and threats
continued to ring in the air. "Those who carried materials did their work
with one hand and held a weapon in the other." Not optimal working
conditions.

Whatever building or repairing God has called us to, the key to getting
through the times of overwhelming discouragement are found in Nehemiah's
clarion words. "Remember the Lord."

Maybe I CAN write one more paragraph today, after all.

Blessings,
Sharon Hinck