Neh 4:3-4 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, \u201cWhat they are building\u2014even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!\u201d Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads…<\/p>\n
Whenever you step out in faith, opposition will show up. Criticism is not a sign of failure\u2014it\u2019s a sign that you\u2019re doing something that matters. In Nehemiah\u2019s day, ridicule came swiftly the moment the people began rebuilding. Tobiah\u2019s mocking wasn\u2019t just about stones\u2014it was aimed at their confidence, their calling, and their courage.<\/p>\n
You can expect criticism when you follow God\u2019s calling. But expecting it doesn’t mean accepting it. You don\u2019t need to let it define you, delay you, or derail you. Nehemiah didn\u2019t argue\u2014he prayed. He didn\u2019t stop\u2014he built. He didn\u2019t respond with insults\u2014he responded with focus. His confidence wasn\u2019t in his work, but in his God.<\/p>\n
Let critics talk. Let doubters doubt. Your response isn\u2019t to convince them\u2014your response is to continue. God\u2019s approval matters more than man\u2019s applause. If God has called you to build, then build\u2014even when they say it\u2019s weak, small, or foolish. What matters is not what they say, but what God is doing through you.<\/p>\n
Further Readings:
\n2Sa 16:5-14
\nMat 5:11\u201312
\n1 Pet 2:23<\/p>\n
\ud83d\ude4f Blessed Weekend \ud83d\ude4f<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Neh 4:3-4 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, \u201cWhat they are building\u2014even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!\u201d Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads… Whenever you step out in faith, opposition will show up. Criticism…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6519,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastoralcarecenter.org\/newsletter\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6518"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastoralcarecenter.org\/newsletter\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastoralcarecenter.org\/newsletter\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastoralcarecenter.org\/newsletter\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastoralcarecenter.org\/newsletter\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6518"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pastoralcarecenter.org\/newsletter\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6520,"href":"https:\/\/pastoralcarecenter.org\/newsletter\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6518\/revisions\/6520"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastoralcarecenter.org\/newsletter\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastoralcarecenter.org\/newsletter\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastoralcarecenter.org\/newsletter\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastoralcarecenter.org\/newsletter\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}