A
daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and
exhortation.
Thursday,
May
14,
2020
![]() Yesterday we went on an 8
mile bike ride beginning on the Lancaster Junction trail
and then along back roads.
"Dealing
With Sanballat"
"Sanballat
and Geshem sent to me, saying, 'Come and let us
meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono'.
But they intended to do me harm. And I sent
messengers to them, saying, 'I am doing a great
work and I cannot come down. Why should the work
stop while I leave it and come down to you?'”
(Nehemiah 6:2,3).
![]() When
traveling between Tulsa OK, where Brooksyne was
raised, and Kansas City we would pass through a
small town called Nowata, Oklahoma. Like most
towns with unusual names there is some dispute
about the origins. The Lenape tribesmen who
passed through named it "nuwita," meaning
"friendly" or "welcome'. In the Cherokee
language, the town is called ᎠᎹᏗᎧᏂᎬᎬ
(A-ma-di-ka-ni-gunh-gunh, roughly), which means,
"water is all gone," translating what it sounded
like the word meant: No Water. For no good
reason we always favored that explanation!
Here in our area of Pennsylvania we have some
real doozies for town names, probably most
famously a town here in Lancaster county named
Intercourse.* But not too far away in Berks
County to our north there is a town called
Virginville.
But
today we consider a small town in northern
Lebanon County we periodically drive through in
the course of our chaplaincy work named "Ono".
According to one tradition, the name Ono was
selected after all other ideas were rejected by
a town elder who said, "O! No". Another
interesting derivation is that the community was
named after the biblical Plain of Ono in our
daily text, likely drawing inspiration from the
many fields surrounding the community.
Ono
is mentioned several other times in the Bible.
Later in the book of Nehemiah it is called "the
valley of craftsmen" (Nehemiah 11:35). But
today let us consider a lesson from a requested
meeting in the plain of Ono in our daily text.
Nehemiah
was one of the exiles who returned from Persia
after the Exile. He traveled hundreds of miles
to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. This was
important work, as the wall was Jerusalem’s
first line of defense. But Nehemiah’s
restoration work did not go unopposed.
Nehemiah
was being harassed as he was finishing the work
on rebuilding the walls around the city
following the Israelites' return from their
exile. A persistent harasser was a man named
Sanballat, who did everything he could to thwart
God's work. In Nehemiah 6:2 he sought to derail
the process by calling for a meeting but
Nehemiah knew the intent was to bring harm. He
sent messengers to Sanballat informing him, “I
am doing a great work and I cannot come down.
Why should the work stop while I leave it and
come down to you?”
Have
you had someone like Sanballat in your life? You
probably have. We sure have. I recall when
starting Daily Encouragement as a new ministry
in the mid-nineties a supervisor, actually my
District Superintendent, making a very petty,
belittling comment about my vision. However
another DS was very encouraging at that time and
in fact still receives our messages to this day
nearly 25 years later! In life you will
inevitably have people like Sanballet and
people like Barnabas, whose name means
"encourager". (Acts 4:36)
These thoughts are adapted from a blog: Sanballat's goal is to seek to stifle our
spiritual growth and vision. Sanballat wants to make
it look like the job is impossible; in other words
create doubt. And Sanballat wants to rally
opposition against what you are trying to do. Just
like he did to Nehemiah. Sanballat’s goal is to
discourage you—to get you to quit what God has
called you to do. The goal is to tear down—not build
up—the wall God is calling you to build. Sanballat
can take the form of discouragement, fatigue and
fear. These are a few of the enemies of restoration
and rebuilding.
This is a good time to remind ourselves
who was rebuilding the wall. God was the Architect,
and Nehemiah was the contractor. God was at work. It
was His will to rebuild the wall and the gates
around the city. Anyone in opposition to that goal
was in opposition to God. Nehemiah was determined
that no one but God would stop the work.
Nehemiah finished the wall. Nehemiah achieved this, not by removing the fear of attack and reprisal but by helping the people face their fears, turning them towards God who was their defender and shield. Like Nehemiah, we need to act with God, and for God, even though it means strenuous effort and opposition. We need to trust God, do our day’s work faithfully, and leave the future and the results to Him. (See below for credit) Nehemiah's
response to Sanballat's request for a meeting was, "I
am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why
should the work stop while I leave it and come
down to you?” Today may the Lord reveal to us
the value of our work and give us strength to resist
the inevitable Sanballats that may come our way.
Be
encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber ![]() ![]() I shared the
message about Ono with a group of employees
from Lebanon
County
earlier this week and one of them remembered
that there was once a hotel called the O'Yes
Hotel in Ono PA!
Amish
entrepreneurship as children make these crafts to
sell in front of their farm.
The "HELLO" barn on
an Amish farm on Landisville Road provides a happy
greeting as you pass by.
A wagon of hay brings
back memories some 45 years ago when I put up hay
for farmers in southern Missouri right after we got
married.
Today's
Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
Who were Sanballat, Tobiah And Geshem?
Northstar Church
Send a message to
Stephen & Brooksyne
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Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version. Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
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