“Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.” Neh 4:14

One of Satan’s most powerful weapons is distraction. Obviously, if he can get us to sin, to compromise our integrity, to just blatantly choose our own will and way, he wins. But most of us love the Lord, and want to follow Him sincerely. If this is you, your enemy is likely employing Plan B against you.

The book of Nehemiah is an object lesson in Satan’s tactics. The Apostle Paul warns us to be on our guard, “in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes” 2 Cor 2:11. So just what is “Plan B”? A very large part of it is distraction. If Satan cannot get us to leave the path God has ordained for us, he uses all possible means at his disposal to get us to slow down or follow some fork in the road. I’ve seen it so many times.

In Nehemiah, the culprits Satan uses are Sanballat and Tobiah and friends. And boy are they persistent! They try threats, and lies. They appeal to the powerful, and hire a secret informer. They ridicule; they try to stir up suspicion, and doubt. To them, everything is negative, or impossible. They would be stars in our modern “fake news” media frenzy. They worked hard to divide, to stir up the base natures of men to be proud or insubordinate.

Nehemiah would have none of it. Neither should we. The wise pilgrim knows that these schemes have been employed over and over again, for thousands of years. Our job is not to heed them, not to give ourselves over to fear, and be diligent to keep the unity of the faith. Our duty is to keep our eyes on the Lord, great and awesome…the One who fights for us.

Friends, keep your attention on your assignment. Nehemiah did, and despite the onslaught of attacks which Satan had loosed upon him and the returning children of Israel, they rebuilt the wall of the city of Jerusalem which had been first destroyed some 300 years previously. Because they would not let their enemies outwit them, they finished the entire wall in record time: 52 days!

So much for Plan B!