When the Naysayers Won't Quit: A Right Response

“Sanballat was very angry when he learned that we were rebuilding the wall. He flew into a rage and mocked the Jews, saying in front of his friends and the Samarian army officers, “What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think they’re doing? Do they think they can build the wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices? Do they actually think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heap—and charred ones at that?” Tobiah the Ammonite, who was standing beside him, remarked, “That stone wall would collapse if even a fox walked along the top of it!” Then I prayed, “Hear us, our God, for we are being mocked. May their scoffing fall back on their own heads, and may they themselves become captives in a foreign land! Do not ignore their guilt. Do not blot out their sins, for they have provoked you to anger here in front of the builders.””

Nehemiah 4:1-5 NLT

http://bible.com/116/neh.4.1-5.nlt

Sandballot's taunts were not just against Nehemiah and the Jews working relentlessly on the work set before them by God, which in itself would be offensive to God, but He goes on to mock the way they Worship God. His mockery hits on a note of truth that reveals his heart. He says “…Do they think they can build the wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices? …”
Nehemiah 4:2 NLT he recognizes that worship leads to God blessing the work being done by His worshipers. His mockery almost hints at heart of jealousy perhaps? Makes it sound as though it is absurd that God could quicken their work, and yet the place these people were in I think personally their worship was more focused on repentance and maybe asking for help towards this task, but I think mostly their worship was more about restoring relationship.
I love Nehemiah's response, he doesn't take this personally or retaliate and say something spiteful to them, he just lays the burden down in the throne room asking God to take care of these sinners. He sees its not his problem to deal with and just gives it to God.

Who are your naysayers? Are you taking the attacks personally? 

Are you worshipping the answerer of your problems? Or are you dwelling on them?

Touch the Sky by Hillsong United has been my enterance to the throne room today, what's yours?

When the Naysayers Won't Quit: Start With Prayer

As I look back to my last post, I find it interesting that even though I haven't been posting all along (too much life lately) I've still been on that same path. I'm still working on developing consistency with resolution 1, but I've been really working on developing a habit of prayer. This has been inspired by my Study of Nehemiah. I've decided to share it with you here in hopes that you may be encouraged as well.

This will all make a lot more sense if you jump over and read Nehemiah 1 real quick.

Here's my version:

After Babylon came in and took the Israelites captive, Nehemiah found himself as cupbearer to the king. There were some travelers from Judah that came through. Nehemiah couldn't help but ask about home. He was devastated to hear what was left. He was remorseful for the sins of His people and He pleaded with God through fasting and prayer to remember His people and to restore the nation of the Lord, recalling the promise of the Lord. 

Nehemiah knew what he had to do after all this fasting and prayer. It was nuts! He was a servant to the king. But God gave him a plan. Devine strategy… He had to ask the king something. He knew if he was going to be successful, God had to go before him. God had to move on the heart of the king. All of this knowing came from his time allowing God to console his brokenness. He fasted, knowing only God could satisfy his broken heart. He prayed, pleading with God to hear this prayer. "Give me peace, give me hope, show me what I can do to bring about restoration of YOUR people” I'm sure he prayed. 

This is how I can learn from Nehemiah today!

God gave us emotions. He allows us to experience these, because they drive us to action. 

Brokenness, helplessness, neediness, these things force us to the throne of God where we can find true peace. That peace often comes from an action plan, knowing where to go from this point. But sometimes we have to let those emotions swell in and take over so that we can freely give them to the Lord instead of stuffing them under a rug.

Tuesday was not a great day. I got some bad news from work and I was emotional! I went on a 6 mile walk with my husband, hoping that if I got tired enough, I wouldn't be so upset. And it worked! Kinda... it felt fake because those emotions are still peaking out from the rug every so often asking me what I'm going to do with the budget being so short two months in a row. How can I continue to make plans for the future? Why am I calm… I shouldn't be calm in this situation. I don't have a devine strategy. I don't know what I'm going to do. I have an idea, but I don't know how to make it work. But I never really let those emotions in. I never surrendered them to God in devastation with faith only knowing ONLY He can truly fix it. I just stuffed my feelings under the rug and said with a fake smile, it's ok, God will fix it… But I never really told him the problem or asked him to fix it.

What are you stuffing under the rug? Maybe it's time to find some real genuine peace!