Nehemiah was faced with a problem: the people were buying and selling on the Sabbath day from outside merchants.

His solution was two-fold:

1) he told the children to stop buying on the Sabbath; to be obedient to the law.

2) he told the outsiders that they weren’t allowed to sell there anymore.

Remember that approach next time you face a similar situation: Encourage the person going through it to follow God’s will and do all within your power to make the situation easier for them to succeed.