HANDLING MOCKERY

• DAY 200
• FAITH FILE: NEHEMIAH
• SCRIPTURES: NEHEMIAH 2:18-20

So they said, “Let us rise up and build.” Then they set their hands to this good work. But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?” So I answered them, and said to them, “The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem.”

I once heard a preacher say that if people haven’t started mocking you, then you haven’t started doing anything important. Mockery seems to be part of the deal. People will show their jealousy, hatred, and anger by laughing at you, hoping that you will give up on your dreams and lose courage, and you can go back to not disturbing their system. We see this happening in our text today. Nehemiah and Israel are planning to rebuild the walls, and their enemies begin to laugh at them.

Before

Hardly will you find any great person that wasn’t mocked at the beginning stages of their dream. That is the first stage of mockery before you begin. Enemies will doubt your ability, intention, capacity, audacity, and everything else. They will tell you it is not possible and even if it is, you cannot do it. The only answer you need to give them is that God is with me and He will make me prosper. In Nigerian pidgin slang, we will translate it as “Na God go run am.” Nothing else you say will convince them so don’t try to argue or explain. Just focus on what God said and keep it going.

Beginning

The second stage of mockery is at the beginning. 

But it so happened, when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, that he was furious and very indignant, and mocked the Jews. And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish—stones that are burned?” Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall.” - Nehemiah 4:1-4

Now they can see that you are serious and their initial plan failed. However, it is still possible to defeat you at the foundation. Now you know the actual work, it isn’t just a plan, it is real. And reality can be daunting. The shop is not as profitable as you thought and you have been open for 3 weeks and no sale. You have been posting for 2 months and just 2 or 3 likes, the visibility is far from reality. At this stage, mockery can hit really hard. So it is time to pray.

Nehemiah knew that this stage was critical so he answered mockery with prayer  (This we will examine tomorrow). After this stage, the enemies return when you are halfway and they no longer mock, they plot. It is your prayers at the beginning stage that will rekindle the fire that produces consistency.

Respond

Beloved, I have no clue what mockery is before you right now. You may even be mocking yourself, but I do know that it is time to disarm it with the word and with prayer. So I will give you an exercise, write down every negativity that you might have heard concerning that God-given purpose you want to pursue and when you do, write down What God said about that same thing you want to do. Make it a table. The side with the mockery name it Lies and the other side, name it Truth. 

If you did that let me know in the comment section of this devotional or on whatever platform you saw the link. Go to the comment and respond to the lies with the truth. For Example, If your mockers said you cannot do it, type “I can do all things through Christ.” We are responding to every mockery with the truth.

And when you come back tomorrow, we’re going to talk about how to systematically present that thing to God and to prayerfully Approach the enemies that are coming against you whether it is enemies in your mind, your finances, or your home.

Shalom.