Nehemiah qualities triumph

Some years ago when the story of Nehemiah was in the Christian Science Bible Lesson, I made two lists: one of the qualities which would try to destroy good efforts and intentions, and the other of the "building up" qualities.

“Sanballat and Tobiah” guises and suggestions	“Nehemiah” qualities
Distraction	Focus, attention, determination
Ridicule (Neh 2: 19 “…they scoffed contemptuously…” NLT)	Appreciation, support, encouragement; undeterred (Neh 2:20 “I replied, ‘The God of heaven will help us succeed.” NLT)
Hatred	Working together harmoniously, affection, loving care
Hopelessness	Hopefulness, resolve
Disappointment	Moving on; resoluteness; spiritual aims; anointed; appointed
Regret	Looking ahead; focus forward; course correction; finding the blessing
Confusion	Clarity
Restlessness	Poise, calm, presence of mind, control, settled work (Neh 6:11 “Should someone in my position run from danger?” NLT)
Indolence	Activity, purpose, energy, animation, aspiration
Apathy	Interest, enthusiasm, devotion
Work not valued	Put value on your work
False charity	Stand firm, not tricked
Ignorance	Watchfulness, alertness, thorough understanding, application (not theory), works (not words)
Gossip, rumour (Neh 6: 7 “You can be very sure that this report will get back to the king…” NLT)	Be a law to yourself, un-entangled, loving thoughts, watch what you say and think; get the facts (Neh 6:8 “There is no truth in any part of your story. You are making up the whole thing.” NLT)
Constrained by time	Work in the present; gratitude; orderliness; focus (Neh 5: 16 “I also devoted myself to working on the wall…” NLT); systematic; admit possibilities (Neh 6:15 “So…the wall was finished – just 52 days after we had begun.” NLT)
Busy-ness	Diligence; disciplined effort; inspired activity
Aimlessness	Clear goals; fruitful activity; willingness to work; vision; high goal
Selfishness	Selflessness; care for others; big picture thinking
Subtlety	Realism; common sense; attention to detail; don’t “major in the minors”; get the facts Neh 6: 12 “I realized that God had not spoken to him…they were hoping to intimidate me…” NLT)
Hypnotism, drowsiness	Awake; alert; not hypnotised; informed; thoroughly prepared
Crowd thinking	Individual and independent reasoning from first principles; unimpressed by world thought; get the facts yourself; check the facts
Materiality	Spirituality
Truth reversed	Truth stands tall
Retrograde	Progressive; holding fast; intact; DONE
Displacement	Home, harmony, New Jerusalem, the sacred city; sanctuary; church; constancy
Chaos	Order, peace, gratitude, holiness

 I am sure we can all keep adding to this list. What is wonderful is that Nehemiah proves that evil is powerless to stop the work.

Julie Swannell