How To Stay Faithful to God’s Vision When Opposition Comes
Have you ever started moving toward something God placed on your heart, only to face resistance along the way? Whether it’s growing your relationship with God, strengthening your marriage, or trying to establish new spiritual disciplines to deepen your faith, you begin to face intense opposition from all sides.
This spiritual attack may make you question whether you’ve done something wrong. But one thing the Bible shows us is that resistance doesn’t always mean we’ve missed God’s will. Sometimes opposition comes because we’re doing something right; we’re moving forward. That's why God calls us to stand together as the body of Christ, encouraging one another as we build what God has placed on our hearts, even when the journey becomes difficult.
"...resistance doesn't alway mean we've missed God's will."
Nehemiah 4:1-15 is a great example of this. The people of Jerusalem came together to rebuild the city's walls after God placed the vision to do so on Nehemiah's heart. As the work moved forward, so did the opposition. Jealous and evil men led a rebellion to stop the work. They used different tactics such as mockery, strife, discouragement, fear, and threats to impede the work. Yet they didn’t prevail because Nehemiah and the people remained united, prayed together, and kept building.
3 Key Takeaways
Here are three takeaways to help you stay focused when God calls you to keep building during persecution.
1. Don't Be Surprised by the Opposition
Don’t be surprised when you face any type of persecution, whether big or small. As Nehemiah and the people began to put up Jerusalem’s walls, the attacks started and became more violent. (Nehemiah 4:1-9). Their enemies mocked them, hoping discouragement would stop the work.
These verses show us that our number enemy uses spiritual attacks when we’re doing something for the Lord. He rarely attacks something that is stagnant. He only attacks when he sees any type of movement and momentum in our faith.
For example, say you want to rebuild your marriage. The enemy will intentionally get you and your spouse to start fighting over meaningless stuff. If you want to restore your prayer life, satan will try to do all he can to make sure you stay busy, tired, or do anything to stop the process. So, don’t be surprised when attacks happen, because often it’s a sign you are on the right track.
2. Pray Before You Panic
Sometimes, when we face opposition, we are tempted to give up or complain to others, but we can learn a lot by looking at how Nehemiah responded. His first response wasn't to panic or retaliate. Rather, he sought the Lord in prayer (Nehemiah 4:4, 9). And we should do the same thing.
Think about what happens when you are driving through thick fog and you can’t see what’s ahead of you. You might start to panic, because fog is overpowering. It causes us to lose sight of the bigger picture, leading us to fixate on the threat or to imagine worst-case scenarios. But when we pray, we take our eyes off the circumstances and look to God, remembering His faithfulness to see us through, so we can keep moving ahead.
3. Remember the Vision God Placed on Your Heart is Bigger Than Yourself
Sometimes when life’s journey becomes difficult, it’s easy for us to lose sight of the vision God placed on our hearts and get discouraged. That’s exactly what happened to God’s people as they were building the wall. But Nehemiah reminded them, "Remember the Lord... and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your home." (Nehemiah 4:14).
We have to remind ourselves that when we’re carrying out God’s vision for our lives, the work we are doing is never about us or the present. We are building for a new future, for ourselves, our family, and our community. We’re leaving a legacy of faith and setting a new foundation for those who will come after us.
Weekly Challenge
This week, think about what God has placed on your heart. What are you trying to build to further God’s Kingdom that has become difficult and made you discouraged? Resist the urge to panic, retreat, or give up. Instead, take your concerns to God in prayer and ask Him to help you see the vision in your heart through His eyes so you can keep moving forward. And don’t ever stop building!
Want to go deeper?
Watch Pastor Teresa's message, The Power of Collective Vision Part II on YouTube.
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