Haters and Intimidators

It seems like our world is full of people who want to be Debbie Downers. They want to always focus on the negative, highlight the shortcomings, or question the motives. They can’t cheer on the successes of others as they are too envious of the situation. They use whatever tactics they can to hinder the calling and motivations of those around them.

And many times, we let them win. We let them get into our minds to start to question what God has specifically told us to do. We let them cause us to second guess our plans that we know have been laid out for us. We let them discourage us into faltering before the finish. We take our eyes off what we have been summoned to do and focus on the noise around us.

In the book of Nehemiah, the prophet Nehemiah was called to go back to his home country and rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. He was the king’s cup-bearer, but felt a conviction to go back home and help his people rebuild the wall around the city. He got there and saw the status of the city and encouraged the people to rebuild the wall. And so, they began building. Each group of people took a portion of the wall to rebuild.

Almost immediately, Nehemiah faced opposition. Of course, not everyone could be excited about the wall being rebuilt and so the haters and intimidators began to work against the mission. They criticized, made up lies, and complained about the project.

“They were just trying to intimidate us, imagining that they could discourage us and stop the work. So I continued to work with greater determination.” Nehemiah 6:9

Nehemiah’s response is the pattern we need to follow. He overlooked the haters and intimidators and began to work with even greater determination. He would not allow these people to keep him from what he knew God had called him to do. He buckled up, lasered in his focus, and continued his work.

“So on October 2nd the wall was finished–just fifty two days after we had begun. When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God.” Nehemiah 6:15-16

Nehemiah stuck to the task at hand and when the wall was finalized, his naysayers could only give God the credit. This was not an easy task. This was not a quick task. But Nehemiah kept his focus on the calling that God had given him and persevered despite what others were saying.

How many times have we given up on what God has called us to do because of others? How many times have we missed the breakthrough because we faltered before we finished, due to frustration? How many times have we quit, and because of that, we missed an opportunity for God to get a lot of glory through our situation? There are going to be very few times in life when we make decisions or pursue dreams that everyone will support and cheer us on. We have to realize that just because there is opposition in our path it does not mean that we misunderstood our calling or decision. Sometimes this opposition is sent by the enemy to distract, discourage, and defeat. Are we going to stop building our wall or are we going to continue to work with greater determination?

This blog was written by Amy Carrico: Author of Making the Moments Matter Blog

Last Updated on July 5, 2024