In the Face of Opposition….

Competition confronts us in life in the most unlikely places. Churches, friends, homes were some of the place we talked about last Friday and Monday were this is seen. Competition often takes on the face of opposition. Nehemiah knew opposition…

Nehemiah had a God-size vision to repair the walls of his home, Jerusalem. A rubble of burnt stones, the task seem insurmountable. That is unless you were a man with God-size faith.

As with any thing that is going to point to the greatness of our God, there was opposition. Two guys, Sanballat and Tobiah led the way in trying to stomp out the progress on the wall. Nehemiah 4:1 tells us that when they heard that the wall was being rebuilt they were angry and greatly incensed. Their reaction? Ridicule. “What are those feeble Jews doing?”

People don’t take too kindly to those who have purpose; to those who have a God-sized vision and begin to make progress in seeing His name honored. Maybe you experience that at work. I have a dear friend who daily stands for her faith; stands for what Christ has called her to be as a woman and mother at her job. Her purpose is to live a pure life; reflecting her love for her Savior. What does she get each and every day? Ridicule. What does she pray and believe is taking place? Her co-workers seeing true life in Christ.

Maybe you experience ridicule in your home. Those who live under your same roof don’t share the passion you have to live out life with freedom in Jesus and sharing that whenever and wherever you can.

Nehemiah responded to ridicule; he responded by praying for his enemies. He didn’t get caught up in a conversation with them. He didn’t debate; he didn’t fight. He and the people kept right on working on that wall; in fact, it says they did so with all of their hearts.

If you keep on reading the chapter, Sanball and Tobiah didn’t give up either. They became even more angry as they witnessed progress on the wall taking place. They began to fight them and stir up trouble. They plotted to kill the workers!

Again, Nehemiah focused on the task. Setting up guards for protection only, he refused to engage. He didn’t get distracted. They kept right on working.

Friend, get your vision from God; asking Him for one so big that unless He intervenes it is bound to fail. Then, get working. Ignore the ridicule. It is bound to come, but keep your eyes on your purpose and your hand to your task and just see what your God will do!

Enjoy your weekend; fall is the perfect season you know!

His…..Lynn

Lynn

One Comment

  1. Anonymous says:

    I agree about Fall and Thanks for the words on Nehemiah. God bless

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.