There’s a lie we all want to believe — even against all available evidence. It trades on our God-given capacity for hope. It tempts even those with impeccable theology. It lures us in and then leaves us in the lurch. It goes like this: “Life will get easier if I just make it past this current challenge.”
We feel this way about life stages. “If I can just find a romantic partner . . . make it through grad school . . . marry and settle down . . . have children . . . survive the diaper stage . . . survive the terrible twos . . . survive the teen years . . . find a better job . . . retire . . . then, finally, all will be well.” We think this way about temptations. “If I can accumulate enough in my bank account, I won’t be anxious anymore.” “Once I own my own home, I won’t envy what others have.” “After I marry, pornography will no longer be an issue.”
You’ve probably seen medication commercials featuring ridiculously fit and happy older people with silver hair and perfect teeth playing tennis and laughing in a carefree fashion. That’s the lie. It’s not true. In many years of pastoral ministry, I’ve seen numerous people work hard and honor God through their childrearing years and careers only to retire and face increased challenges. Friends move away. Misunderstandings with grown children occur. Spouses die. Medications multiply. Often, retirement isn’t a quiet harbor but the open ocean.
Because the Bible is realistic, almost every page punctures the lie. In particular, the clear-eyed story of Nehemiah reminds us that God’s people face lifelong hardships and temptations. At the same time, Scripture is not a counsel of despair for those in Christ. Like Nehemiah, we can learn to let hard be hard yet also filled with hope. Consider how his story might supply fresh strength for your current season — not some unpromised future one.
Sea of Hardships
Tasked with rebuilding the Jerusalem wall, Nehemiah finds himself surrounded by enemies. They simply will not quit in their efforts to stymie his work. Like Wile E. Coyote, the famous cartoon nemesis of the Roadrunner, the adversaries are unrelenting, undeterred, always trying new schemes. Their initial strategy for hindering Nehemiah is mockery and public shame (Nehemiah 2:19; 4:1–3). When that fails, they try deception, pestering Nehemiah for a private meeting, meaning to harm him (6:1–4). Then, in an open letter (so that the rumor will spread), they mention that he’s rebelling against Persian authority (6:5–7). They try to ruin his reputation (6:10–13) and send more letters to scare him (6:19).
I can imagine Nehemiah saying to himself, “If I just get this wall rebuilt, life will be easier.” But that’s the lie. Because once the wall is completed, the houses of Jerusalem must be rebuilt and the city repopulated (7:4). And, as it turns out, those who fill the city are sinful, which means Nehemiah must respond to continued and complicated crises (see Nehemiah 13). It never stops. God’s people face lifelong hardships and temptations.
John Newton understood this. In his hymn “Amazing Grace,” he proclaimed his confidence that God would be his shield and portion “as long as life endures.” You need a shield only when spears and arrows are flying your way, so Newton clearly believed they’d be in the air as long as he lived. Yes, many “dangers, toils, and snares” were already in the past. But Newton knew that the baseline expectation for God’s people is that more will come. Our only safe haven is heaven, and there’s no heaven on earth. (Not yet, at least.)
Yet biblical realism needn’t lead to pessimism or passivity. Despite stiff opposition, Nehemiah and his followers keep on working and complete the wall (Nehemiah 6:15). Despite the continued disobedience of those who returned to Jerusalem, Nehemiah continues to make reforms and call the people back to God (Nehemiah 13). Nehemiah chooses to face real hardships and temptations with energetic hope rather than slack despair. And upon closer inspection, his story also shows us how: by looking up and looking back.
Looking Up
In the midst of unrelenting opposition, Nehemiah repeatedly looks up. He speaks to the God of heaven who is here with him: “But now, O God, strengthen my hands” (6:9). Here’s the first key to joyful perseverance amid pervasive difficulties: look up to God.
Nehemiah is famous for setting his sights heavenward in tight spots. He tells us that, in the intimidating presence of King Artaxerxes of Persia, “I prayed to the God of heaven” (2:4). As he recounts his enemies’ taunts, he bursts into prayer: “Hear, O our God, for we are despised!” (4:4). He’s a shining example of how to look up.
And, of course, our experience of God’s presence is greater than his. We know the Messiah’s name and the details of his story. We’ve seen God’s glory in Jesus’s face. His very Spirit lives inside us, encouraging and emboldening us. We enjoy his continual help. Through him, we possess constant, confident access to the Father. So, ultimately, we don’t need hardships and temptations to end because we have God with us in the midst of them.
Looking Back
Not only does Nehemiah gaze heavenward; he also looks backward. God’s past faithfulness is a second source of indominable hope. My church supports global partners who recently realized that sharing stories of God’s faithfulness on the mission field is noticeably decreasing their anxieties while there. This can be true for us too. As we meditate on God’s help in the past, our confidence in him grows in the present.
Surely, this is one of the reasons for the otherwise baffling inclusion of Nehemiah 7, a long genealogy of the first wave of exiles who had returned to Jerusalem a century before Nehemiah’s day (see also Ezra 2). Why include it here? Because it’s a tangible, specific reminder of God’s meticulous past provision. It fuels hope. Similarly, the people’s celebration of the Feast of Booths (Nehemiah 8) reminds them of what God has already done for them.
We too should look back. “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands” (Psalm 143:5). Of course, we’re able to ponder thousands more years of God’s faithfulness than Nehemiah could. The reservoir of God’s grace has grown, and that grace now includes Jesus’s life and redeeming work. God’s past work fuels present confidence in the face of future challenges. We press forward by looking back.
Onward
God’s people endure hardships and temptations that will not end before heaven. New difficulties are surely just around the corner for you — only a text, call, or email away. But don’t despair — and don’t pin your hopes on the vain expectation that suffering will cease. There is no paradise here.
Instead, look back and look up. God’s love will outlast every discouragement, fear, anxiety, setback, and temptation we face. Nehemiah shows us how to endure grave challenges with glad hope.
