Should Such A Man As I Flee?

Should Such a Man as I Flee?

—Nehemiah 6:11

It’s not just how we start a race that matters. How we finish is what’s most important.

Nehemiah was not a prophet or a preacher. He was a layman, a civil servant, burdened with the reproach of Jerusalem’s broken-down walls and burned gates. He was granted permission to return from Babylonian exile to be the rebuilder of Jerusalem. He assembled a competent and committed team, cast a vision, and managed the huge task. After a long six weeks of hard work, the completion was in sight. But before we read that “the wall was finished” (Nehemiah 6:15), Nehemiah came to a crossroads and was tempted to abandon the entire project in the last moment. He asked, “Should such a man as I flee?” (v. 11). He speaks to us, so many centuries later, of the importance of “finishing strong” in our own God-given assignments of life.

The last lap in any race—literal or metaphorical—is often the most challenging. All of us can recall people who quit even when the finish line was in sight. Nehemiah’s enemies come on the scene in chapter 6 with one final, last-ditch effort to discourage his strong finish. Yet Nehemiah asked two questions that helped fuel his successful finish. When he was tempted to get off on side streets, he kept focused: “Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?” (v. 3). And when tempted to get on the sidelines, he kept faithful and asked, “Should such a man as I flee?” (v. 11). It is not how long our race may be, nor even how difficult the task, but how we finish that is most important.

Nehemiah’s goal was finally in sight. The walls were rebuilt, and all that remained was hanging the gates. He was on the last lap of a long race that had carried him over many hills and through many valleys. As he sprinted to the finish line, he shouted to us. Can you hear him? “Stay off the side streets! Keep focused!” and “Stay off the sidelines! Keep faithful!” Finishing our own task is a hallmark of success in life.

STAY OFF THE SIDE STREETS! KEEP FOCUSED!

Sanballat—Nehemiah’s longtime nemesis—and his deceitful friends made a final attempt to derail him. They sought to trick him into a meeting that was designed to get him off on a side street. “Come, let us meet . . . in the plain of Ono” (Nehemia 6:2) was their invitation. Fortunately, a focused Nehemiah said no: “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down” (v. 3).

So often, when our own task is almost done, some Sanballat comes along, seemingly harmless, to get us to lose focus. What is Ono? It is nothing more than a side street. We have all gotten off on them at one time or another. I often did that literally during the fifteen years my family and I lived in Fort Lauderdale. It is called the “Venice of America” because there are more than two hundred miles of waterways within its city limits. There are thousands of homes on the canals that wind their way through the city, so water taxis are a popular mode of transportation. Those who live there and drive cars learn quickly that if you want to get anywhere, you stay on the main roads. Each time I tried to beat the traffic by taking a side street, I would end up on a cul-de-sac, a circle, or worse, a dead end into a canal. Ono may appear to be a good thing, but in this case the good is the enemy of the best.

So what can keep us off the side streets when we are so near a finish line? Focus—and Nehemiah had a laser-like focus: “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?” (v. 3). Stay off the side streets! Keep focused!

STAY OFF THE SIDELINES! KEEP FAITHFUL!

No one who has ever played on an athletic team likes to be on the sidelines. No one who has ever aspired to be on stage takes joy in being in the wings. Nehemiah wanted to avoid the sidelines as well. Just before he completed his assignment, his adversaries made a last-ditch effort to derail him: “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple . . . for they are coming to kill you” (Nehemiah 6:10). Nehemiah knew that, as a layman, he was not permitted to go “within the temple.” He hadn’t gone down a side street, and he was not about to be put on the sidelines now. Once again, he responded with a question, “Should such a man as I flee?” (v. 11).

In contrast to Nehemiah’s perseverance, we live in a day when we see a lot of men and women fleeing, running out on responsibilities and opportunities and away from risks. This escapism takes all kinds of forms. Too many wish with the psalmist, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest” (Psalm 55:6). Guess what? You don’t have any wings! You can’t just fly off. You can’t run out every time things don’t seem to go your way.

Those who win in life finish strong. Life is like a golf tournament in that regard. Who most often wins the tournament? The player who plays the final few holes with intensity and passion. Even though the tournament consists of seventy-two holes, the last few quite often determine the winner. Who generally wins college basketball’s Final Four? The team that plays strongest in the last two minutes. In the Olympics, the mile run is a high-impact event. The runner who finishes strongest in the last fifty yards is always the winner. In the courtroom, who usually comes out victorious? The opening arguments are important. Effective examination and cross-examination of witnesses are imperative. But it is the final argument that leaves the lasting impression on the jury.

No one ever finished stronger than the Lord Jesus. When the finish line for His race was in sight, He said, “I have finished the work which You have given Me to do” (John 17:4). The enemy tried its best to get Him on the sidelines. The crowd jeered, mocked, screamed, and spat. “If You are the Son of God,” they shouted, “come down from the cross” (Matthew 27:40). But Jesus kept focused and faithful. And in the end He solemnly proclaimed victory: “It is finished!” (John 19:30). And, to prove it, three days later He arose from the grave.

Q & A: “Should such a man as I flee?” Of course not! Finish strong! Maybe you have fallen down on the track or hit the ball out of bounds. Get up and finish the race. Get back in the game. It is all about how you finish! Stay off the side streets. Keep focused. Stay off the sidelines. Keep faithful. Our Lord is standing at the finish line with His arms outstretched. Keep running toward Him!