My takeaway from Nehemiah 6 is that Nehemiah was determined to complete the task God gave him and didn’t allow anyone to distract him.

It seems there were constant attempts to pull him from his work and maybe there were those who intended to kill or harm him.

But they could do no such thing. It all just amounted to a lot of hot air.

They made threats. They told lies. They tried to convince him that God wanted him to stop working. They had many people telling him what a good guy this leader was who was troubling Nehemiah and trying to stop the work.

It’s important for the believer to realize that Satan can’t harm you. The evil one cannot touch you. That’s what our Scriptures say. Since he can’t actually get you, apart from God allowing something to happen to fulfill His good purposes for your salvation and the salvation of others, all he can do is get you to harm yourself.

Consider Psalm 37:8. Do not worry; it only leads to evil. Or, do not fret; it only causes harm.

If Satan can get you to worry, get you upset, then you’ll harm yourself. It’s trusting God and living in His restful, calm confidence that is our salvation.

Most of Satan’s activity is just a lot of hot air. It’s smoke and mirrors. It’s trying to distract you from your work, distract you from looking to Jesus, distract you from loving others, and so on.

Nehemiah seemed to have great discernment from the Lord to realize all that was being said was not from God, but was trying to turn him from his purpose.

When the threat comes, we need to keep our eyes on God and give thanks. He is Lord over all. He will take care of you. This wasn’t a surprise to Him. His good plan for you hasn’t changed. Fix your eyes on Jesus and give thanks. Rejoice always. Let God be God and defend you and fight for you.

When lies are told about you, give thanks to the God of truth. Let Him be your attorney and defend you. Let Him bring out the truth when, and to whom, He designs. Don’t concern yourself with your reputation except with the only one whose opinion of you is of utmost importance. Live for God’s approval, not anyone else’s.

Set your hand to the kingdom work God’s given you, and don’t be turned off course by a whole lot of nothing.