When God’s people step into God’s will to accomplish God’s purpose, they can expect opposition. The enemy will use ridicule and rumor, bullying and abuse to cause us to withdraw, to stop what God is building. We might expect that following God’s will should bring God’s blessing—and it does—but that blessing may be found through a difficult path where our internal tiredness will also face external intimidation.

That is the story of Nehemiah Chapter 4. Because God’s people join together to build in God’s work, the enemy reacts with shame and threats. This Sunday, we will consider how we can continue to build God’s church in the midst of enemy opposition.