Sanballat continue his angry rant in Nehemiah 4:2: “And he said before his brethren and the army of Samaria, What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore things (at will and by themselves)? Will they (try to bribe their God) with sacrifices? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heap of rubbish, seeing that they are burned?”

Basically, Sanballat was saying, “This mess is too big to ever rebuild!” Yes, the walls were so destroyed that they were nothing more than heaps of charred stones. They were not good building materials for walls—at least not without a lot of effort. In Sanballat’s mind, building the walls was a bad idea. They were simply too far gone.

The enemy may be hurling the same accusations at you: “What do you mean you can start over? Look at what a mess you life is in!” “There is no way you can get a college degree, not with the way your mind has been messed up!” “You think you’re going to save enough money to send you children to college? Your finances are in such a mess the bank can’t even straighten them out!” Whatever he is saying to you, I want you to know you are never too big a mess for God to redeem and nothing is beyond His ability to restore.

If anyone’s life has ever been a mess, mine was. If anyone had reason to believe trying to get better simply wasn’t worth the effort, I did. And the enemy knew it too. I went through a very difficult situation from 1980-1994 and I became very angry. Satan told me that I would always be rough, harsh, hard, rude, and crude because of what transpired during these years. I desperately wanted to change and be the kind of woman I believe God wanted me to be, but I had to stand strong through the battle raging in my mind and emotions.

The devil is a liar; it’s that simple (see John 8:44). He does not tell you the truth; he tells you whatever he wants to tell you in order to destroy you. He relentlessly attacks your mind and emotions. When you are tempted to give up because you think your problems are too big, just remember, the devil is a liar and nothing is impossible with God!

The devil hates all progress. Even if you commit to lose a certain amount of weight and do well on your diet for a week, then lose your willpower one day and eat a hot fudge sundae, the enemy will be right there to say: “See? This is too hard. You cannot do it. You have always been overweight and your eating habits are too ingrained in you for you to try to change them now!”

When he sends a storm of accusations against you, stand up and say: “Listen, liar! I had a little setback, but it is not over yet! I will meet my goals. I will do what God is calling me to do. It is worth the effort, and you will not stop me!” Fight the good fight of faith. You are a soldier in the army of the God, and He is on your side.

We may all have setbacks when we are learning how to do things correctly, but we can have a fresh start everyday. All babies fall down while trying to learn how to walk. When they take a tumble, they do not just lie on the floor and cry for the rest of their lives. They get up, dust themselves off, and try again! No matter how many times they fall, they never give up. Next week—PRAY!

By faith I keep pressing on!