A Great Work

Perhaps the most famous statement in the book of Nehemiah is when he said this to his enemies who sought to get him to come down off the wall he was building around Jerusalem: “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?” (Nehemiah 6:3) This has application for all of us as we seek to do the work of the Lord—we cannot let any distractions pull us away from that which is most important. President Uchtdorf used the story of Nehemiah to encourage us in our service in the Lord’s work, saying, “The Lord is seeking men like Nehemiah—faithful brethren who fulfill the oath and covenant of the priesthood. He seeks to enlist unfaltering souls who diligently go about the work of building the kingdom of God—those who, when faced with opposition and temptation, say in their hearts, ‘I am doing a great work and cannot come down.’ When faced with trial and suffering, they respond, ‘I am doing a great work and cannot come down.’ When faced with ridicule and reproach, they proclaim, ‘I am doing a great work and cannot come down.’… My dear brethren, like Nehemiah, we have a great work to do. We stand overlooking the horizon of our age. It is my fervent prayer that in spite of temptations, we will never lower our standards; that in spite of distractions, wherever they may come from, we will not lose focus on what matters most; that we will stand resolute and together, shoulder to shoulder, as we valiantly bear the banner of the Lord Jesus Christ.” As the Lord told Thomas B. Marsh He would surely tell to all of us: “I, the Lord, have a great work for thee to do” (Doctrine and Covenants 112:10). We all have a great work to accomplish with the help of the Lord and, like Nehemiah, we must not come down.

                The book of Nehemiah contains many other inspiring phrases which can help us to stay focused on what maters most. He encouraged his people, “Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work…. The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build” (Nehemiah 2:18, 20). We cannot sit back and relax in the kingdom of God; we must arise and build. He wrote how “the people had a mind to work” and encouraged them that though “the work [was] great and large… our God shall fight for us.” And so, they “laboured in the work.” Though they faced opposition he encouraged them saying, “Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses” (Nehemiah 4:6, 14, 19-21). He had recorded heartfelt prayers and petitions to the Lord, such as this one: “And said, I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments: Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants” (Nehemiah 1:5-6). He further pleaded with the Lord, “Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands” (Nehemiah 6:9). And he prayed again helping us see the character of that God who can strengthen us: “Thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not” (Nehemiah 9:17). He had incredible faith in the Lord and helped those with him in the city understand the great work in which they were involved and how to turn to their God for aid. We can all plead with the Lord using the last recorded words of Nehemiah as we strive to accomplish the work He has for us: “Remember me, O my God, for good” (Nehemiah 13:31).