Have you ever allowed others to derail your efforts in doing something good because of their negativity or because of how they have treated you? I have meant many over the years, who have straight out given up because of being treated poorly by other Christians. I’ll bet you have too. In fact, there’s an extremely high chance you are one of the hurt ones.
I love the Book of Nehemiah because of how it teaches us to trust God and to block out others who try to destroy our good work. We must become people who continually stick to the task no matter how much the enemy throws at us. Any time you try and do God’s work, the opposition will come. It always does. The devil isn’t slow to attack those who are doing God’s work. A Church begins to grow, and the complaints begin to roll in. But they aren’t like us. Their kids are uncontrollable. You name it, the devil will use it. Yet Nehemiah refused to listen and convinces those working with him to stay focused with their assignment (Nehemiah 2:18).
How did Nehemiah do this? He knew his success would come from God not from men. He told the Israelites “The God of heaven will give us success” (Nehemiah 2:20). How easy would it had been for Nehemiah to make excuses on why the work couldn’t be completed. He could have easily said, we don’t have enough workers. We don’t have enough money. Why not let someone else deal with the headaches?
Part of the job description of every good leader is to be able to manage criticism. It just naturally comes with the position.
A wise leader must evaluate the voice of those speaking to him. If it’s from God, do what God says. If it’s from the enemy be courageous and refuse to give in. The devil will attack every good leader. A leader’s task is to stay focused and know they are doing what God has called them to do. Opposition will come, but God will overcome.
