“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 6:3 (ESV)

Nehemiah had a God-sized assignment: rebuild the wall around Jerusalem. It wasn’t glamorous work. It wasn’t even safe work. But Nehemiah knew it was holy work.

Sometimes, doing what God has called you to do doesn’t look big to anybody else. Maybe it’s raising your children when no one sees the sacrifice. Maybe it’s going back to school when folks whisper, “Isn’t she too old for that?” Maybe it’s starting over after loss or rebuilding your faith after a season of doubt. No matter what your wall looks like, hear me: it matters.

When Nehemiah set out to do what God had put in his heart, opposition came quickly. People questioned his motives. They mocked the work. They tried to distract him, even threatened him. But Nehemiah had a made-up mind. He answered every distraction with this one truth: “I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down.”

There will always be something—or someone—trying to pull you down from the work God has called you to. Discouragement, comparison, busyness, insecurity. The enemy knows he can’t stop the assignment, so he tries to stop you.

I remember a season when I was trying to build something for God. It wasn’t a wall—it was my confidence. I was showing up for my kids, for ministry and for work and still felt like I wasn’t enough. Every time I took a step forward, I heard voices (some from the outside, but many from within): Who do you think you are? Why bother? Nobody’s going to care. But God whispered to my heart, keep building.

Like Nehemiah, we have to build with one hand while holding a sword in the other (Nehemiah 4:17). That means we do the work and fight to keep our minds stayed on truth. We build our lives, our families and our callings, and we guard our hearts from the lies that try to tear them down.

Friend, whatever wall God has placed in front of you to build, don’t come down. Don’t quit just because it’s hard. Don’t let the critics, even the ones in your own head, keep you from completing the work.

Your obedience is your offering. Your faithfulness is your fight. And your yes is what turns broken-down walls into testimonies of God’s power.

So keep showing up. Keep laying brick after brick. Keep believing God is with you.

Because He is.