Opposition is Inevitable

By Matt Watson

There will always be opposition. No matter the type of work, no matter how beneficial, there will always be naysayers and deniers opposing it. This is especially true for those doing the Lord’s work. When we imitate our creator God, and build for him rather than ourselves, the world takes notice and then tries to stop it.

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
John 15:18-19 ESV

So it was with Nehemiah. When Nehemiah returned to the ruins of Jerusalem with a royal charter to rebuild the walls and a check book filled with blank checks signed by the king, he was immediately opposed.

“Then I came to the governors of the province Beyond the River and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen. But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.”
Nehemiah 2:9-10 ESV

Nehemiah ignores them. That is the best way to handle trolls. Trolls then, as internet trolls today, are “micro-terrorists”, feeding off of any annoyance and disruption they can cause. It makes them feel powerful when they receive attention. So Nehemiah doesn’t give them any. He carries on with the work and asses the the damage to the city walls.

After a stealthy inspection is made, Nehemiah casts a vision for the work the people of God are about to do.

“And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, ‘Let us rise up and build.’ So they strengthened their hands for the good work.”
Nehemiah 2:18 ESV

This is what effective leaders do, motivate to action. “We got work to do; prepare your hands for the task. Put your hand to the plow. Take that axe. Grab a trowel. Pick up a broom. Follow me, let’s go!” And the people Nehemiah had gathered all agree, “Let us rise up and build.” There will be time for resting later. Now, it’s time to work.

But then the trolls returned with their snide remarks, their jeers, and bad memes. They mocked and ridiculed the people, anything to get someone feeling self-conscious enough that they stop being productive. This was just the beginning; later there would be plots to sabotage the work, death threats, and an escalation of arms. But for now, they started with a lie. Sanballat, Tobiah, and now Geshem the Arab say, “What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” (v. 19b).

Nehemiah doesn’t defend himself. He doesn’t need to. He has the permission from Artaxerxes. They know it, and he knows it. Therefore this satanic lie is designed to cast doubt in the hearts of the people, to create a hint of distrust that maybe what they are doing is a little too dangerous (cf. Gen 3:1).

Nehemiah’s response ignores their obvious ploy, and cuts to the real issue.

“The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem” (v. 20).

Later when they try to get him down off the wall to talk, he’ll tell them “No, I’m too busy working to waste time with talking.” Nehemiah knows what he is about. We should too.

“Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you”
1 John 3:13 ESV

There will always be a Sanballat slinging insults at you for doing a good thing. “To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled” (Titus 1:15). You don’t need to worry about them. You should watch them, however. You don’t need to be defensive, but you do need to be prepared for their disruptions. Don’t take the bait or give them the dignity of a response, just keep working. God is big enough he can take care of it.

This article was originally published by Matthew Watson with Awake! Put on strength!, and is used under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license.