day 15: brave vs derailed

I know what it's like to feel derailed. It's a miserable place to be in. A couple of years ago I was moving forward with what I felt God was calling me to do but then I hit an obstacle and I allowed it to derail me. I stopped moving forward. I sat there, and then as I moved forward, carefully tiptoeing around that land mine I found myself circling back to the same place God had brought me to a year before. 

It was awful. 

At the end of the day I'm glad for the experience because I never want to be in that space again. Being derailed means that in that moment I gave up on God's calling, I stopped moving forward and gave into my feelings about my circumstances and made the choice to live by sight instead of by faith. 

Nehemiah didn't give up. He didn't give into the pressure. He didn't allow himself to become distracted or derailed. He is such an example & inspiration to me when it comes to refusing to be distracted. 

Read:  Nehemiah 4-6 

Respond:Tobiah and his friends continually try to derail Nehemiah. How do they attempt to derail Nehemiah?Can you relate to this? Have you been ever experienced being derailed in the past? Sometimes it can be positive things that threaten to derail us from the work that God has set us to be doing. Sometimes it's scary or hard things that frighten us off course or overwhelm our thoughts. Is there a circumstance that is currently threatening to derail you? How did Nehemiah respond to Tobiah? (See 6:3)  How does God want you to respond to these circumstances?

Additional verses:
John 16:20-24 - sorrow/joy birth

Exodus 14:14 - the Lord will fight your battles you must only remain still/calm.

1 Peter 5:5-10 humble yourself & cast your anxieties on the Lord... resist the devil, he prowls around looking for someone to devour.

Isaiah 30:5, 18 he rises to be gracious to me

Write out Psalm 126 in your own words as a prayer back to God.