Revive Us Again: Identifying and Overcoming the Tactics of the Devil (Part 4).
Are you prepared to face opposition when pursuing God's vision? Nehemiah certainly was, as we see in Nehemiah chapters 4-6. In this part of the Bible, Nehemiah encounters fierce hostility as he works to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Yet Nehemiah's response provides a compelling model for faithfully continuing God's work in the face of hardship.
The Certainty of Opposition
But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat” (Nehemiah 4:7-8).
This opposition is not surprising because we live in a broken world full of sinful people and influenced by our spiritual enemy, the devil.
First, we live in a fallen world with systems and structures often at odds with God's kingdom (Isaiah 59:2). Our pride and desire for autonomy from God's authority create friction against his will.
Second, we each have a sinful, corrupted nature that produces things marred by selfishness and evil (Jeremiah 17:9). Even when we try to do good, our fallen nature wants to go its way rather than God's.
Third, the devil is actively working to oppose God's people and frustrate His plans (1 Peter 5:8). Satan will use any means necessary to distract us from fulfilling God's calling.
We must remember that if God has called us to a work, He will see us through to its completion, for "the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world" (1 John 4:4).
Forms of Opposition
The opposition Nehemiah faced took several forms:
Personal Opposition. Often, some of our fiercest opposition comes from those closest to us. Family members, friends, and colleagues often oppose us with critical words. Sometimes, they choose to ignore us completely (Nehemiah 4:1-3).
Cultural Opposition. Sometimes, the opposition we face comes from within the norms of the culture we live in. We find that as we do the will of God, it automatically equates to a confrontational stand against the culture. In our culture, sin, immodesty, lust, greed, and more are considered normal. To live and act godly immediately makes you different, sometimes resulting in being criticized, ignored, or excluded (Nehemiah 4:1-3).
Institutional Opposition. Occasionally, we will face opposition from those with whom we share a pew. Not everyone in the local church (or global) is committed to doing the will of God (Nehemiah 4:1-3, 6:10-14).
When God begins to revive people and people begin to respond, the “non-responders” will become dogmatic about what the church “used to be.” Or, they will publicly agree, but in private, they take every opportunity to cause division.
Now, we don’t want to become paranoid and lead from fear. So, let me offer this caveat. Everyone who does not respond immediately to God’s reviving is not necessarily “non-responders.” Some people are just middle or late adopters. They, for whatever reason, do not accept change as quickly as some others. They need time to sort things out. We should give people room to respond and reveal their motivations.
How the Devil Opposes Us
We’ve established some of the reasons opposition comes from the devil. But how does he work? What tools does he use to distract us from doing the will of God? Let me suggest four key tactics of our enemy:
Ridicule: Sanballat attempts to distract the people by ridiculing their work. He is trying to make them believe a lie. He is trying to convince them their work does not matter – they are wasting their time and not making a difference (Nehemiah 4:1-3).
Threats: Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the men of Ashdod were angry because of the walls being repaired. We can suspect that repairing the walls meant they could no longer do the evil things they wanted, so they threatened Jerusalem with war (Nehemiah 4:8).
Distraction: The enemy tried to get Nehemiah to leave the work under the guise of meeting. Nehemiah knew this was of no use (do not negotiate with terrorists). He sends a messenger to tell them no and keeps working (Nehemiah 6:1-7).
Discrediting: When the enemy realizes his ridicule, threats, and distractions are not working, he becomes personal. He moves from attacking the thing you are doing to attacking you (Nehemiah 6:10-14).
How to Respond to Opposition
Nehemiah models for us how to faithfully continue God's work in the face of opposition:
Keep your eyes on God and His vision. We must stubbornly cling to God's vision when the enemy tries to distract us. Instead of giving up, Nehemiah posted guards and kept moving forward (Nehemiah 4:9).
He prayed and encouraged others to do the same. If we are genuinely focused on remembering that the Lord is on with us and will fight for us – then we will pray. If we think we can resist the enemy alone or devise some clever way of handling the situation, we will forget to pray. Nehemiah took the words of his enemies to God and prayed that God would defend and protect him (Nehemiah 4:9).
He did not fight fire with fire. As we are being opposed, the temptation is to oppose back – insult for insult. Or we allow the enemy's words to fill our heads, and we dwell on them too much. We cannot do this. We must remember the Lord, Who is great and awesome. Remember that when you are doing the will of God – He will fight for you (Nehemiah 4:20).
He prioritized God’s work over the enemy’s tricks. Notice that even though the enemies were hurling insults and trying to distract, the work never stopped. The same is true of the church. No matter what tactics the enemy uses to try to distract us, we must refuse to be pulled away from the vital work of reaching the lost and making disciples, even if it means having to do the work with one hand while holding a weapon in the other (Nehemiah 6:3).
The reality is that the enemy will do everything in his power to pull us away from fulfilling God's will. But we cannot be deterred if we have a clear vision of what God has called us to.
Like Nehemiah, we must refuse to take our eyes off God's vision, even when we face ridicule, threats, distractions, and attempts to discredit us. We must pray, trust that God is fighting for us, and keep doing the good work he has given us, no matter the opposition.
When we remain steadfast in adversity, God will use us to accomplish his purposes. So let us boldly press on, confident that the one in us is greater than the one in the world (1 John 4:4).
(FYI: Some links in this post are affiliate links. If you click through and buy something, I might earn a small commission that helps support this blog.)
If you find this blog helpful and want to say thanks, click here to buy Danny Davis a coffee.
