Realties of serving God

This Sunday we will be in Nehemiah 2, looking at The Realities of Serving God. It’s easy to be idealistic about serving God until you meet the actual people that you have to work with! Suddenly you realize the truth Linus of the Peanuts cartoon shouted, “I love mankind; it’s people I can’t stand!” I often hear pastors say that the ministry would be great if it weren’t for people! But the ministry involves people. Many pastors bomb out of ministry because they never learn how to work with people. They’re abrasive or insensitive and when people react against them, they develop a persecution complex. Nehemiah had his challenging people too, but he showed us how to work with the people to accomplish the great task of rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem in fifty-two days. Nehemiah was sensitive and responded with tact. But when necessary, he confronted people with uncompromising strength.