THE LINC COLLECTIVE

Stay on the Wall:
When Work Becomes Worship

Every great work will face great resistance.

That’s the unshakeable truth we find in Nehemiah 6. Nehemiah was in the thick of rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls—exhausted, covered in dust, half-finished, and right there, opposition intensified. Distraction, defamation, deception, and discouragement came at him in waves. And yet, his response rings loud through time: “I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down.”

Friend, can we bring it home for a moment? What wall are you building right now—your marriage, your children’s hearts, your calling, a ministry, or marketplace endeavor that echoes heaven’s vision? Whatever has been entrusted to you requires your hands, your prayers, and your obedience. And because it matters, it will be tested.

Nehemiah reminds us: the wall is work, the work is worship, and worship produces joy, which becomes our strength. This is more than a building project; it is spiritual formation. It is about becoming the kind of people God can entrust with vision bigger than ourselves.

1. The Wall Is Work

No matter your season or circumstance, you are building something. Building is messy. It demands courage, consistency, and sacrifice. In a culture obsessed with ease, we need the ancient resilience of builders. Work invites us into process, not perfection. Jesus never shielded us from the struggle—He entered it with us.

Don’t confuse “hard” with “wrong.” The wall requires your sweat. It demands your attention. Your career, your calling, your marriage, your ministry—it isn’t a side gig; it’s the soil of legacy. Don’t downplay your wall. The enemy sees your significance and would love nothing more than to lure you down under false pretenses. But the voice of heaven whispers again: Stay on the wall.

2. The Work Is Worship

Our Monday-to-Saturday efforts are not less sacred than Sunday songs. Nehemiah laid bricks, carried a sword, and prayed all at once. That was his worship. What about you?

Your worship is woven into spreadsheets and sandwiches, into whispered prayers while folding laundry, into late-night strategy sessions and sacrificial generosity. When your heart is anchored to God, every task becomes a temple. You are not just earning. You are testifying: God did this.

When the wall was completed, the people didn’t celebrate their achievement—they turned immediately to God’s Word. The work wasn’t about their name. It was about His.

3. Worship Is Joy, and Joy Becomes Strength

Now comes the part that cuts deep and comforts wide: The joy of the Lord is your strength (Nehemiah 8:10). Joy is not a mood. It’s not a smile we fake. It’s the engine of enduring obedience.

What held Jesus to the cross? Not duty. Not fear. The Bible tells us Jesus endured the crucifixion because of “the joy set before Him” (Hebrews 12:2). What was that joy? You.

Your freedom. Your healing. Your wholeness.

Jesus finished the wall we never could—the wall between heaven and earth torn down in His sacrifice. He didn’t come down, and that’s why you can stay up. In Him, you have everything you need to stay faithful in the tension, the middle, the mess. In Him, your wall becomes a place of worship, and your worship births joy that doesn’t expire with circumstance.

Don’t Come Down

You may be in the middle right now. Shoulder-deep in demands. Battling unseen warfare. The enemy often comes not at the beginning or end, but right in the middle, on a Wednesday. In that space, the Spirit says again: Stay on the wall.

Don’t come down because it’s messy. Don’t come down because it’s misunderstood. Don’t come down because the culture doesn’t see it as valuable. You are building what eye has not seen and ear has not heard. You are making room for generations. And when the walls stand tall, all who pass by will say, “Surely the Lord has done this.”

Stay on the wall. Your joy is ahead. Your strength is rising. Your work is worship.
And worship always leads to Jesus.

So climb back up. Pick up your brick. Whisper your prayer. Plant your seed. Love again. Forgive again. Show up again.