There are plenty of leaders who have quit, who have given up on their vision. But here's what they didn't know. They quit right before the finish line. Helping you understand how to cross the finish line in your life, coming up right now on the 3D Today Show. You're listening to Clearview Today with Dr.
Abadan Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Ryan Hill. I'm John Galantis. Welcome to the Clearview Today Show. We're here in the studio with our host, Dr.
Abadan Shah, talking leadership, talking Nehemiah. Dr. Shah, have you ever heard of a gentleman called Chance the Rapper? No. That was of all the directions you could have taken, that was in the words of Chance the Rapper.
All my days I prayed and prayed, and guess what, gang? I see the finish line. That was such a turn from Nehemiah. I don't know what I was expecting, but I promise you it was not that. I don't even know who this guy is.
I don't even know if Chance the Rapper is appropriate. I don't even know if we can talk about that on Christian radio. I don't know. He's a secular rapper. Probably not.
Well, that's what he's got that one song called The Finish Line. That was what was in my head. All my days. I prayed and prayed. You know that one?
No. Seriously? Seriously. All right.
Well, there's a ton of people out there who are like, yeah, Dr. Shot, there's this principle. Anyway, the finish line. Yes. People don't know this.
It's late at night. We're tired.
So here's the tie-in. This is something you've told me, and I've seen it multiple times, and I know you've seen it too, being a leader for so long. People quit right before they hit their goal. Right. And they don't even know it.
Think about a young girl. She grew up in church and great potential, wonderful goals in life, the ideal, the model student. And next thing you know, she gets around people who pretend to be her friend. But they lead her astray. And then you can see a change in her demeanor.
You can see a change in her style. And nothing wrong with having a new style, new clothes, new makeup. That's fine. But you can see something is happening.
Something is is not the same. And it's not just based on what she's wearing or not wearing, it's about a spirit. And before you know it, she is no longer focused or heading towards her goal. And she's gone off the deep end. Yeah.
Another scenario It's from an email I received from a friend, and in that email, he mentioned. a famous person whom I had admired for a long time. And I thought, man, this person knows what they're doing, they've been doing great, and on and on and on. But my friend sent this email to tell me that this person had fallen. Person in the ministry?
In the ministry. And I was like. Wow.
So immediately I went online, I typed their name on in my Google search, and sure enough, this person whom I had admired had left his wife of twenty years. And was now living with a mistress. Wow.
Unbelievable. And I thought to myself, what would possess you to do that? I mean, you have everything that I'm hoping one day as an influence. I'm not talking about cars or houses or lifestyle. No, I'm talking about the influence you have to touch people with the gospel.
You have it. And you threw it away So close to the finish line. That you could have left this world with people praising you and glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ, of the impact you made on the world, and yet you did this. Another scenario. A church.
Doing great things for the Lord, man. They cannot do anything wrong. It's like the midest touch. Everything that touches turns to gold. And then all of a sudden There are church splits.
Their people against each other is gone downhill and before you know it that church is sitting there empty. empty. What happened? Exactly what you said. 20% lost their focus right before the 20% of the race.
Wow.
That's crazy. You know, it's funny because we have this idea of crossing the finish line of our life, right? And just like you said, we get the accolades, we get the well done, good, and faithful service, this picture-perfect ending. And then something happens, and the enemy throws something at us right there at the end. And instead of, even though the finish line is in sight, I don't know if it's like a tortoise in the hair thing, we deviate.
We go away. We feel like we've been. In the last 20% of the race, people fall out, get out of the race, trip. Break an ankle, and it's over. What's the common factor?
What causes that in people across different walks of life, across different trajectories, different races? That's a great question. That's a really good question. What is the common factor? Why do people quit in the last 20% of the race?
I think further back Way back Something was wrong. It didn't happen randomly. Way back, either it was success. Uh quick success. Either it was a misunderstanding of The source of success?
Either it was people protected them. Or give them lots and lots of adulation too quickly. I don't know. I feel like. The common factor is that the problem did not begin at the 20%.
Before the finish line, it happened way back. And they petered out right there at the end. Yeah. Right. Right.
20% before they could finish, they're done. Yeah, I see what you're saying. Like, it's, it's, you, you, something went wrong at the start. It gave you like a almost a false start, I guess, if you want to say it that way. And then at the end, whether it's you just lost steam and couldn't finish, or there's a hurdle and you just didn't have the energy to jump it, whatever it is.
the i you disqualify yourself By either falling or quitting right there at the end. What a sad legacy. What a sad ending to your race of not even, not even finishing, not even crossing the finish line. I mean, how heartbreaking that you missed it. You were right there.
It is sad. It is sad because we see, especially high-profile pastors like you were mentioning, or business leaders, or business leaders, people who have a lot of influence, a lot going for them, who are doing legitimately well. And we have this sense of glee when they fall. You know what I'm saying? We have this sense of like, you know.
It makes sense. It makes sense. All that power, all that money, all that fame, all that whatever. And it's like you said, the older you get, and Dr. Sha, I know you think this way too.
The more time you spend doing what we do, the sadder it becomes. Yeah. Right. It really hits you hard.
Well, the chilling reality is: how do we prevent that? How do we avoid it? How do we avoid falling in the last 20%? Right. Well, let's look at Nehemiah.
In Nehemiah chapter 6, verses 1 through 4, I want to read this and then let's break it down. Sure.
Now it happened when Sanbalat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and that there were no breaks left in it, though at that time I had not hung the doors and the gates, that Sandball and Gesham sent to me saying Come. Let us meet together among the villages in the plain of Ono.
Okay, okay.
So they're looking to bring some peace. Yeah. Yeah, they're just looking to get together in a little bit. Let's just chat. But they're taught to do me harm.
What's that? But they're taught to me harm. No, no, no, no, no. They just want to meet and talk. We're just gonna get a coffee or we're Christians.
We're gonna grab a lunch.
So I send messengers to them saying, 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? But they sent me this message four times, and I answered them. In the same manner, so they told Nehemiah, they said, Hey, come meet with us in the villages in the plain of plains of Ono. And Nehemiah sent back and said, Oh no.
But for it, like, he's wise to their game. He knows, he knows this is no, this is no meeting to talk. He says, Right out of the gate, they meant to do me harm. Like, this isn't a peaceful meeting. This isn't peace talks.
Hey, we're sorry we acted like out of character. We're sorry we were just kind of hateful and thrown off by this construction project, but let's work together. Have you ever been? Yeah, have you ever been in a situation like this where someone you know had done you some harm and then they wanted to get together later and were like, hey, look, can we just take the bait? No, you knew you knew better.
Yeah, you learn, and then you will also have people who will judge you and they will criticize you and they will say, come on, you cannot forgive. Blessed are the peacemaker. Yeah. And you go, no, no, no, I understand that. And yes, I can forgive.
But no, I cannot forget. You say, well, that's another way of not forgiving. No, no, no. I can forgive. I'm not holding any grudge against them.
It's the trust that is behind that situation. I cannot trust them. Yeah, and you do, and Jesus never called for you to trust someone who's not trustworthy. That's right. That's right.
Why do people get that mixed up where forgiveness means the relationship is exactly the way that it was before? Trust is immediately repaired, and we're back to buds. It's not even like we're back to buds, but we're because they were never buds to begin with. That's true, that's true. Sanbala, Tobio, Geshem, and the rest of the enemies were never buds.
But they're trying to be buds. They're trying to be buds here.
So if you go back and look at this. Sand Ballard was the chief enemy of Nehemiah. He was the governor of Samaria, on and on, as we know. He hated Nehemiah from day one. And while Nehemiah wanted to help the people of Jerusalem, Sanbalet wanted to.
Yep. You know, advance his own agenda. And he knew that if the Jewish people were successful in rebuilding the wall, he would no longer be in control.
So he did everything he could to sabotage the project. He was not a friend, but a ringleader of the opposition. That's the second ballot. Geshem, on the other hand, if you remember, was in major opposition as well. Opposer, if you will.
Some archaeological discoveries describe him as the governor of Dadon. Otherwise, describe him as the king of Kedar. He's a big deal. He's a big deal. He's a big guy, yeah.
Yeah. That being the case, Geshem controlled the eastern desert. region of Syria. Northern Arabia Sinai and northern Egypt.
So he was bigger. Then sand ballot. or to bio. Very powerful man. And he was afraid that rebuilding the wall and empowering the people would interfere.
With his lucrative trade in myrrh and frankincense, besides some other things.
So He was not a friend. He was also in opposition. Big opposition. Yeah. So these these men Tobiah is not included in this list.
This is just Sanbala and Geshem, and they come to Nehemiah and they say, let's meet together. I mean, I know Nehemiah says They meant to do me harm. What what was their motive in meeting? Probably probably to kill him? Do you think they were going to kill him?
Yeah, of course. They they thought to do him harm. I mean, Nehemiah himself says that. He felt in his spirit that this was a mistake. Why would these people have opposed me so far?
you know Why would they want to be my friends? My friends. Why now? Right? More than likely, their plan was to lure him away from Jerusalem than kidnap him or just kill him.
And be like, hey, man, I don't know what happened. We got attacked by bandits. We got attacked by because they don't want to kill him out in the open because the king of Persia will find out and come after them.
So it's like, we don't know what happened. I mean, these people were not above lying. Yeah. What do you think gives leaders that sixth sense? Because there are some who are like, there are some leaders who would take the bait and be like, oh my goodness, thank goodness I can get this behind me.
Let's repair these bridges. And these are powerful men. Like, if I get these guys on my side and they're telling the truth, like, this could be really great for Jerusalem. And then other leaders are like, I'm not going near that with a 39 and a half foot pole. Where do you think that sixth sense, so to speak, comes from?
You know, the world calls it the sixth sense. But we're talking about. It's not about seeing dead people, though. No, it's about a sense of discernment. Yeah, yeah.
And it's not like, yeah, something in the back of my head. You can maybe describe it like that, but it's more than that. It's because you walk with God, because you have the Holy Spirit of God, because you're in the Word, God gives you a sense of almost like a spidey sense. You go.
Something is not right.
Something is up. I've had that happen to me many times. Many times in my Ministry in my life where I felt like, hmm, that may not be a good situation. And it was not a good situation. Yeah.
Now, I'm not just talking about having a bad day, or you're extra tired, or you just ate something wrong, or you did not sleep enough, and you're just feeling off. That's not the sense of discernment. You're just not yourself. But a sense of discernment is not based on any of that. It's based on something that God lays on your heart and gives you that warning that this is not the way you should go.
Keep your eye on this person. And there are times that I listened to it, and then there are times I didn't and paid for it. Mm-hmm. Nehemiah senses that something is up. And so his response is in verse three: I sent messengers to them saying, I'm doing a great work.
So that I cannot come down Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you? But they sent me this message four times. These dudes are pushy. Yes. Let's meet.
Let's just meet. We just want to talk. Which that alone should be a red flag. Even if you didn't know the character of Sambal and Gesham at this point, that alone is like, let's meet, let's meet, let's meet. Why?
Imagine getting urgent. Imagine getting four, like someone wants to meet, and you say, hey, I just can't meet right now. And they send you four consecutive emails. I would say that they didn't just do that. And I know maybe I'm reading a little more into the text, but knowing Eastern cultures, I'm sure they sent some gifts.
Oh yeah? Laid it laid it on a little thicker. Yes. Again, there's nothing in the text that says that. It simply says, but they sent me this message four times.
I think they must have sent.
somebody to come as that go between and say hey You know Sand Ballast sent that message. Get to see that? Yeah, I saw that, well you know, look. He's actually a good guy. He's really a good guy.
I've known him all my life. What you got to understand about Sam Ballad is. Yeah. And. He wants to support you.
Honestly, I mean, he's for you. He's on your side. he knows doing what you're doing right now is difficult. It's tough. I mean, look, you you got the Persian M king bar you know, breathing down your neck.
He wants you back tho there. You know, you know you Jewish people, man, I mean, they're contentious. They were taking advantage of each other. I mean, they're going to turn on you. Look, you need someone like San Balor on your side.
I'm good. I'm doing my work. Here comes another friend. Hey, y'all. Did did um d I just saw somebody leave it.
Hey, look, let me tell you something. That he's a good guy. The message is a good guy. I've known him. Mom and Daddy.
He grew up down the street from me. That's right. That's right. I played in the cul-de-sac together. Yeah.
Nehemiah is looking at this whole thing like, when is this going to stop? When can I get back to work? Really? I worked next to the king of Persia. Right.
Okay, you're trying to swindle me. You think you're going to deceive me? Who do you think you're talking about? I didn't end up there by accident. Right.
That's right. God put me there, but He put me there by training me. but teaching me by experience By knowledge, by reading, by studying, by observing people, I know what I'm doing and you're gonna come try to fool me. Yeah. No.
Please say it again, no, I'm not coming. And it's in one more. How did he have that sense of discernment? Once again, I think he was a person of prayer. And every step of the way, he prayed and he trusted God.
And the time he spent with God made him aware of the presence of the enemy. He just knew this is not the way. And you can sense that around certain people. You can see something's not right. I think it gives you a sense of conviction too, because it's like if you're naive, right?
If you're just trusting and gullible, then you probably, more than likely, you're not a person of prayer. If you don't have that spirit of discernment, it's not because that's just your bent, it's because there's something spiritually lacking within you. I just like to, man, I love people. No, no, you're gullible. Right.
And you're gullible is because you're not a person of prayer. That's right. Well, shucks. Look, I. I try to see the best in everybody.
Don't try to hide behind that. This is not because you are so nice and we are so cunning that we pick up on this. No, it's because you're living in a lot of land and you don't have your eyes on the holiness of God. Because if you had your eyes on the holiness of God, you would sense the presence of darkness. That's right.
That's right. And you cannot sense the presence of darkness because you're living in darkness. That's right. So it's time for you to stop hiding behind. I'm just, I just, I just like to see the best in everyone.
And I'm not like y'all. You know, you guys are so paranoid and everything. No, no, no, no. It's got nothing to do with that. You have too much darkness in you.
That's right. You can't tell when the more darkness is. Exactly. Also, I'm pretty sure someone in the Bible said to be wise as serpents, but harmless as doves. That's right.
Someone, like, who was that? I can't remember who. Oh, it was Jesus that said that. It was the Lord who said those words.
Okay. I think it's true, though, man. I think the more that you pray, the more wisdom God gives you, that discernment comes in. And it's just one of those things where being nice and being kind, that's the language of today. Yeah.
Truth. And wisdom is no longer a social, like in 2026, it is no longer a social necessity. Kindness and what do you call it? I don't even want to call it love. It's just kindness and kindness and support and validation because truth doesn't matter.
Truth is relative. Your truth is your truth. My truth is my truth. And my truth can't infringe upon your truth. I mean, it's when you look at it on paper, it's ludicrous.
It's crazy. But we've got to get back to truth and mercy. For the sake of leading the people around. That's right. That's right.
Let me also clarify. While we're on the subject, There are people who are extremely suspicious of anybody and everybody. That's not what we're talking about here. Nehemiah was not constantly walking around going, oh, who's behind me? Nobody's going to be behind me.
Everybody coming in front. I need to be last. Yeah. No, that's not Nehemiah either. Mm-hmm.
So there are people who are very suspicious and they think that's the spirit of discernment. Jesus Christ can walk into their life and they will distrust him. We're not talking about that.
So, being a person of discernment is much more than just being suspicious. It means ultimately you have the Holy Spirit in your life and you have a sense of discernment. About good and evil. You know, Solomon. When he became king, And he made that prayer in the temple.
Listen to what he prayed. He said, Therefore. Give to your servant an understanding heart to judge your people, that I may discern between good and evil. That's not The kind-hearted person, neither is it the extremely suspicious person. This is discernment that comes from.
From heaven, from that living true triune God. That's right. You know, that spirit of discernment is so important for a leader. I mean, I'm sure you've seen that modeled in your dad and in other leaders that you admire. Yeah, absolutely.
Absolutely. It's that discernment that, you know, that leaders model that leaders exhibit that then it trickles down to the people they are leading. I mean, Nehemiah in his discernment was not just a blessing for him, but he was a blessing for the people of Jerusalem, for God's people, and those who came along to help them. Because we've already said it wasn't just the Jewish people who were there rebuilding the walls, it was other people who came along to help them. Nehemiah's leadership and his discernment blessed them and their families as well.
And if you're in a follower position, man, you don't want to be the person who's naive. You don't want to be the person who's gullible because you always, yeah, you might always end up getting off the hook, but someone else has to clean up your mess.
Someone else has to put out the fire that your gullibility and your naivete creates. You know, it's not like, oh, well, I got fooled, but I'm just a good-hearted, innocent person. You don't get any points for that. No, because someone else, I mean, there's there now there's a real mess. And you're because you're gullible, you're probably inexperienced.
You're not very wise. You're not qualified to even clean up the mess you've created.
So someone else who's more discerning, probably your pastor or your ministry leader or whoever. I mean, they're going to have to take the hit for it. And after a while, That story gets old. You know, I wish I could tell you that by this point San Ballast stopped, but he didn't. If you listen to verse five, this is again Nehemiah chapter six and verse five.
It says, Then San Ballad sent his servant to me as before, The fifth time. Bro does not give up. He is not getting the but this time with an open letter in his hand.
Now, in those days, the letters were written on papyrus or leather sheet, tied with a string and then sealed. I mean, they would put, I don't know what they put there, but some kind of. Wax or with a with a ring seal on top of it to make sure that. Whoever sees it knows that this is not for you. Do not break the seal because you will be dealt with.
So. For it to be an open letter. Sand Ballot want wanted everyone who came Across that letter to read it.
Now why did he do that?
Well listen to what it says in the letter. In it was written. It is reported among the nations and Geshem says that you and the Jews plan to rebel. Therefore, according to these rumors, you are rebuilding the wall that you may be their king. Hmm.
Wow.
A threat. A psychological tactic means I am going to cause. People to question your motives. Why are you in this? Yeah guys.
Do you really think this guy's here to help? rebuild your walls and save your lives and keep you safe from all the marauding Horonites and the Ammonites and the Arabs like us, the mean people coming against you. You really think he cares about that? You think that's why he left his cushy job in Persia? No, he's here to be your king.
So the open letter, the open letter is basically saying to Nehemiah, all right, if you're not going to come meet us, everybody around you is going to start to lose their trust in you. Because we're starting this fiction. Sewing division and sowing disunity and sowing discord. Are they hoping it gets back to the king in Persia? I mean, maybe, but he's definitely trying to work on.
Nehemiah's confidence and even cause him to doubt his own self. You know, this is also much more than like I'm going to get everybody to doubt you. He may also be trying to get Nehemiah to doubt himself. Man, maybe I am for the wrong reason. What are my motivations?
Why am I doing this truly? What if they're right? What if 'Cause there are times I'm bossy. The times I do want. things Yeah, it would be great to man, I c I can I can do a lot with this place.
Wait. Am I trying to be the king? Wow.
Well, I don't know. Maybe I need to rethink all this because Maybe I'm the wrong guy for this job. That's what's inbalance hoping on. Psychological warfare. I mean, this is.
2,500 years ago. Nothing new under the sun. Nothing new under the sun. 2,500 years, two millennia and a half. And this is the kind of stuff that still goes on in churches today.
And in businesses today. And in businesses, communities, politics. This is what people do. We're going to cause others to doubt you, but guess what? We're going to go one step further.
So, I want to cause you to doubt yourself. I want to hear what Nehemiah's reaction to this and what his response to this new attack is. But unfortunately, we're out of time. But, Dr. Sha, someone listening, and they're like, you know what?
Not only is this going on in churches, it's going on in my church. It's going on in my business. I'm dealing with this currently in my community. What is your advice to them? And you shall know the truth.
And the truth shall set you free. You stand by the truth, and truth is more than just a principle. Truth is a person. And that person is Jesus Christ. You stand on Jesus.
You look to him. You love him. You trust him. You make him a part of your life because he is. And as long as you hang on to that, You'll be okay.
Don't let the enemy sow lies. Either in your heart or in the people around you. Amen. Amen. Guys, make sure you join us tomorrow.
We're going to continue this conversation about Nehemiah and how he handled this psychological attack. Make sure you're following us on all of our podcasting platforms and sharing these episodes with your friends and with your family. And make sure that you are giving financially to the Clearview Today show so that you can support the work that we're doing and the message across the airwaves. You can do that at Abadanshah.com forward slash give. That's right.
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