As Christians, we can feel vulnerable and threatened and find ourselves in challenging and dangerous situations. We should not be surprised by this, God has told us that we wrestle against the rulers, against the authorities, against cosmic powers over this present darkness and against spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places (Eph 6:12). Further, God also tells us we have a powerful adversary who wishes to harm us (1 Pe 5:8).

The Bible provides many examples and guides on how to triumph in threatening situations. One example is found in Nehemiah 4. In this chapter, Nehemiah is leading the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. These walls had been previously destroyed leaving its inhabitants unprotected and vulnerable. Rebuilding these walls was difficult and challenging. The strength of the workers, for example, was failing because there was so much rubble (Neh 4:10). We are also told that their enemies were mocking and planning to attack. We can learn much from how Nehemiah led the people on how to respond to danger.

When responding to the mockery he prayed for justice (Neh 4:4-5) and then immediately led the people back to work, rebuilding the walls (Neh 4:6). When responding to threats of attack:

• He prayed with the people for protection (Neh 4:9)
• He posted guards at vulnerable points along the wall (Neh 4:13,20-23). Note, the guards were armed but they were never expected to fight because God would do that for them (Neh 4:14,20)
• He pointed the hearts and minds of the community to their great and awesome God (Neh 4:14)
• He pushed ahead with working on the wall, with the community, having seen that God had frustrated their enemies (Neh 4:15)
• He prepared the community to defend themselves instructing each worker to carry a weapon (Neh 4:17-18)
• He planned that they would come together if they were attacked so they could witness God fighting for them (Neh 4:20)
• He positioned himself so that he would never be caught off guard. (Neh 4:21-23).

In summary, when faced with the threat of attack, they responded by praying, preparing, and persevering. We are blessed with the ability to do the same. The same God who frustrated the enemies of Jerusalem is also our Father in Heaven who hears and answers our prayers. By reading God’s word, we prepare ourselves (Heb 4:12) gaining armour (Eph 6:10-18) so that we can persevere in bringing glory to God in the work he has given us to do.