Nehemiah 6:5

Nehemiah 6:5 says, Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand;  After four refusals, Sanballat sent another letter to Nehemiah, this one said to be an open letter, by his servant.  This time, he made his intentions known not just Nehemiah, but to all the people of Jerusalem, hoping to intimidate him in to doing what he wanted.  The whole world should know the intentions of Satan and his forces, but that should never intimidate those who are followers of Christ.  

Verse six adds, Wherein was written, It is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu saith it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel: for which cause thou buildest the wall, that thou mayest be their king, according to these words.  Sanballat in the letter accused Nehemiah of wanting to rebel against the Persians and make himself king of Judah.  He even said he had someone who would attest to the fact.  If this were true, it could have caused the people to quit following Nehemiah out of fear of the Persians.  We may be falsely accused of following Jesus Christ for our own worldly benefit, but as Christians, this should never be the case. 

Verse seven continues, And thou hast also appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, There is a king in Judah: and now shall it be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together.  Since Nehemiah was accused of plotting to overthrow the government and having prophets say he should be king of Judah, the letter said this had been reported to the king of Babylon.  Nehemiah was once again invited to come and counsel with Sanballat.  He was still trying to get Nehemiah to come to him, but not so he could help him.  People still use any method they can to destroy our work for God today, but we can never hope to be successful by compromising our faith. 

Verse eight states, Then I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart.  Nehemiah sent word back to Sanballat that there was no plot as he had claimed, but that he was saying this because of his own fear.  Sanballat was trying to either stop Nehemiah from doing the work God called him to do or to get him in a position where he could capture him because he was afraid that once the walls were built, that Jerusalem would be too powerful to defeat.  We may have people who lie about us today to stop us from doing what God has called us to do, but we should never allow that to stop us from doing it or to compromise our beliefs because we are afraid. 

Verse nine adds, For they all made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done. Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.  Nehemiah said he recognized that Sanballat was doing this to get the people to stop building the wall, in the hope that if he was successful that it would never be completed.  We should never allow fear of what the world may do to us if we continue to serve God and proclaim His word to keep us from doing what He has called us to do.  Nehemiah then asked God to strengthen his hand, and this is what we need to do if we are called to compromise our faith out of fear today.  God has already secured the everlasting victory, so we have no need to fear any power in his world.