Watch Pastor Lauderdale’s sermon titled Scarred But Still Building on YouTube!
A Message of Perseverance from Nehemiah 4
Some scars are easy to see. Others are hidden beneath Sunday clothes, smiles, handshakes, and the words, “I’m blessed.”
But all of us have them.
Some wounds were left by people we trusted. Some came through broken relationships, financial struggles, disappointment, addiction, family conflict, or seasons when life simply did not turn out the way we thought it would.
You may have walked into church looking all right on the outside while carrying wounds nobody else could see.
I understand that.
There are scars I carry that no doctor ever stitched. They were left by people I trusted and loved—wounds that cut deeper than any blade ever could.
And yet, here we are.
Scarred, but still building.
That is the message I see in Nehemiah 4.
Nehemiah and the people of Judah were rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem. They had returned from Babylonian captivity, and although the temple had already been rebuilt, Jerusalem remained vulnerable because its walls were still broken.
The people went to work.
But they weren’t building under easy circumstances. They faced threats and opposition. Nehemiah tells us:
“Every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.” — Nehemiah 4:17
Picture that.
A trowel in one hand. A weapon in the other.
One hand was building while the other was protecting.
And if we’re truthful, that describes a whole lot of us.
We’re working. We’re serving. We’re raising children. We’re trying to save marriages. We’re rebuilding relationships. We’re showing up for church. We’re trying to get our finances together. We’re trying to break addictions and change old habits.
We’ve got our trowel in our hand.
But because we’ve been wounded before, we’ve got a weapon in the other.
We’re working—but we’re guarded. We’re serving—but we’re protecting ourselves. We’re building—but we’re still bleeding.
What wounded you so deeply that you feel like you have to work and protect yourself at the same time?
Hidden anger and unresolved hurt do not simply disappear because we refuse to deal with them.
Eventually, they surface.
And too often, they surface on somebody who had nothing to do with the original wound.
That’s why some relationships never seem to come together. That’s why mothers and daughters sometimes can’t get along. Fathers and sons stop speaking. Husbands and wives begin treating each other like enemies.
Something happened. Somebody got hurt. And the scar is now affecting everything around it.
Being scarred doesn’t mean you can’t build. But we have to recognize the wounds we’re carrying so they don’t determine how we treat everybody else.
In Nehemiah, each person had a portion of the wall to rebuild.
They weren’t assigned somebody else’s section.
They had their own wall.
That’s a word for us.
We can spend a lot of time looking at everybody else’s problems. We notice what’s wrong with their marriage, their children, their finances, their choices, their ministry, and their life.
Meanwhile, God has given each of us a wall.
Maybe your wall is an addiction you’re trying to overcome. Maybe it’s a marriage that needs rebuilding. Maybe it’s a relationship with a child. Maybe it’s your finances. Maybe it’s your faith.
Maybe you’re rebuilding your life after losing a job, losing someone you loved, or walking through a season that knocked you flat.
Whatever your wall is, keep building your wall.
When Sanballat heard that the people were rebuilding Jerusalem’s wall, he became angry.
Then came the ridicule.
“What do these feeble Jews?” he asked.
Tobiah joined him, mocking their work and claiming that the wall was so weak even a fox could knock it down. You can read their words in Nehemiah 4:1–3.
Isn’t that just like the enemy?
The moment you decide to rebuild, somebody wants to remind you of the rubble.
The moment you begin changing your life, somebody remembers who you used to be.
You start working on your marriage, and somebody whispers that it will never last.
You start trying to become a better parent, and somebody tells you you’re doing it wrong.
You decide to get your life together and return to God, and somebody asks why you’re going to that church.
You start saying no to the addiction that has controlled you, and the temptation seems to get louder.
That’s why perseverance matters.
The enemy knows what discourages you. He knows where you’ve been wounded. He knows which voice can make you question whether rebuilding is worth the effort.
But Nehemiah told the people to go back to the wall.
And I’m telling you the same thing.
Go back and keep building.
The Bible tells us what Nehemiah did, but it doesn’t tell us everything Nehemiah felt.
It doesn’t tell us about the nights he may have struggled to sleep. It doesn’t tell us whether his hands trembled after he put down the trowel. It doesn’t record every private question or silent tear.
Scripture gives us the building, but we can understand the battle behind it.
Nobody builds under threats, mockery, exhaustion, and opposition without feeling the weight of the struggle.
Maybe that’s where you are right now.
You’re doing everything you know to do on the outside, but inside you’re fighting a battle nobody else sees.
You’re still going to work. Still taking care of the family. Still showing up. Still praying. Still serving. Still trying.
But you’re tired.
Hear me: struggling does not mean God has abandoned you.
Sometimes opposition becomes strongest precisely because something worth building is going up.
The enemy doesn’t need to tear down a wall nobody is building.
So don’t mistake resistance for a reason to quit.
Your struggle may not be condemnation at all. It may be confirmation that you’re building something that matters.
That’s the heart of this message of perseverance.
Keep building.
I know it hurts. Keep building.
I know it doesn’t look the way you thought it would by now. Keep building.
I know you’re tired of fighting the same battle. Keep building.
I know you don’t know what tomorrow holds. Keep building.
Don’t throw in the towel too soon. Don’t pull up the stakes too early.
You may need somebody beside you stacking bricks while somebody else stands guard. You may need help. You may need prayer. You may need people around you who can remind you why you started.
But stay on the wall.
The race isn’t won by the person who never struggles. It’s won by the one who keeps going.
More than 2,000 years ago, Jesus showed us what it looks like to keep going while scarred.
They marched Him toward Golgotha.
They beat Him. They placed a crown of thorns on His head. They drove nails through His hands and feet. They pierced His side. They hung Him on a cross.
Scar after scar. Wound after wound.
Yet He kept building.
He was building a way back to the Father. He was building our hope. He was building our salvation.
He was making it possible for you and me to have eternal life.
They placed Him in a borrowed tomb, and for three days it may have looked as though the work had stopped.
But early on the third morning, Jesus got up with all power in heaven and earth in His hands.
The scars did not have the final word.
And your scars don’t have to have the final word either.
Maybe you’ve been hurt by somebody you loved.
Maybe you’ve been disappointed by people in the church.
Maybe your family is fractured.
Maybe you’re trying to recover from choices you wish you could undo.
Maybe you’ve been knocked down so many times that you’re wondering whether getting back up is even worth it.
It is.
God did not bring you this far for you to abandon the wall now.
Your scars are evidence that you’ve been through something. They do not have to become evidence that you stopped.
So put your hands back on the wall.
Pick up the trowel.
Keep praying. Keep trusting. Keep serving. Keep loving. Keep rebuilding. Keep believing.
I’m scarred.
But I’m still building.
And by the grace of God, I’m not coming down off this wall.
Lord, You know every scar I carry, including the ones nobody else can see. Heal the wounds that are causing me to hurt others. Give me wisdom to recognize the wall You have called me to build and courage to stay at the work when opposition comes. When I am tired, strengthen me. When I am discouraged, remind me that You are still with me. Help me put my hands back on the wall and keep building. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Scripture Focus: Nehemiah 4:15–20
Key Verse: “Every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.” — Nehemiah 4:17 (KJV)
Watch Pastor Lauderdale’s sermon titled Scarred But Still Building on YouTube!
