What Is Your Enemy Saying That Is Actually True?

Church Family:
As a child of God, a follower of Jesus Christ you will sooner or later be opposed and criticized. You may be opposed by family, friends, co-workers or those even within your own church. Have you ever considered what truths may be intertwined in the words of those who oppose you?

Nehemiah found himself in an escalation of opposition in Nehemiah 4, as he steadfastly continued to pour himself out in obeying God’s call on his life. Nehemiah was pushing forward leading God’s people to finish the wall around Jerusalem. God’s wall was God’s plan to bring God’s people back into a united people who worshipped God as He required. The wall was to keep the enemy out physically and spiritually. God did not want His people to worship any other god’s of the peoples who surrounded them (Deut. 6:14-15). God had promised that when His people obeyed, holiness would prevail and His blessings for obedience would pour out upon them (Deut. 28:1-14). One of those blessings is that God would cause all of Israel’s enemies to be defeated.

That sounds spectacular unless you are an enemy of Israel. You do not want God’s people to be obedient and grow in God’s power. When any enemy feels like they are losing power over their foe they start to oppose verbally, threaten physically and lie continuously. Nehemiah and God’s people experienced these same tactics from their enemies, but Nehemiah and God’s people did not respond in like manner.

Nehemiah could have lashed back in verbal intimidations and physical coercion and even more colorful lies but he did not take the bait. Instead, he quietly considered any truths in the comments of Sanballat and Tobiah (Neh. 4:2-3). So he set a guard night and day to protect themselves (4:9). He made sure the people of God were armed with swords, spears and bows (4:13). He declared that God will do the fighting so do not fear (4:14, 20). He prayed and without hesitation moved forward in the work God had called him to finish. Nehemiah considered the truths of the enemy's words and used them to make him and the work of God more resilient.

We are tempted to hate those who oppose and criticize us, but have you ever paused and considered the content of their threats, accusations or exaggerations? Do you ever think about what truth might actually be accurate? Do you ever look for the truth in the opposition that you need to embrace for your own sanctification? Like Nehemiah, we need to view opposition and criticism as God’s appointed means for us to humble ourselves and embrace difficult truths that are many times only communicated to us through those who oppose us. Opposition
is
part
of
our
sanctification
process,
a
tool
that
God
uses
to
reveal
idols
and
accelerate
our growth
in
humility and effectiveness in the Kingdom of God. Count it all joy... (James 1:2-4).

See you Sunday, as the family of God: Steve