May 21
May 21
When you’re doing the Lord’s work, the best defense against opposition is prayer.
They were exciting days. God had returned his people to Jerusalem and restored them to himself; they were rebuilding the city wall. It was a powerful victory for God and an enormous fresh start for his people. But whenever God works in these ways, evil opposition rears its ugly head. Sanballat and Tobiah the Ammonite mocked and taunted God’s people as they worked on the wall. When you are ridiculed for your faith, mocked for doing what is right, or taunted because of a moral stand that you have taken, how do you respond? Do you wallow in discouragement? Do you abandon your calling? Do you lash out in anger? Or do you run to God in prayer? There is no better defense against opposition to the work of God than prayer. Nehemiah’s response is prayer: “Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives” (Neh. 4:4).
May these words be your prayer:
Lord, when I am about your work,
giving my heart and hands
to your calling,
when your way
is more important than
my way
and when opposition comes,
please give me the grace
to resist fear,
to not return evil for evil,
to fight discouragement’s darkness,
to not forsake your work,
but to run to you
in confidence and hope.
You are my refuge.
You are my defender.
You are my confidence.
You defeat what I cannot.
You give power when I am weak.
You quiet my fears.
You comfort and encourage.
I never do your work alone.
You are always with me
in power,
with grace,
fulfilling your promises.
Help me to remember
that though the opposition is great,
in the glory of your glory
you are infinitely greater.
I run once more to you,
my Lord and defender,
asking you to do in me and for me
what I cannot do for myself,
and to do to my opposers
what you in your holiness
know is right to do.