Strat 101

• AfraOpoku
• April 15, 2025
• Uncategorized
• 0 Comments

It made no sense.

Nehemiah was doing a good thing.

God had opened a door of favour and he was all set to build Jerusalem’s wall.

You would think that was a good thing.

You would be right.

Even so, he faced opposition.                        

The men who came against him weren’t going to lose if Jerusalem was rebuilt.

These men had no stake in cost or contribution.

But evil is seldom logical and evil had set itself against Nehemiah and his project.

The oppositions’ tactics were initially subtle.

Ridicule was the first weapon deployed¹. It was a passive aggressive way to get into Nehemiah’s head. They ridiculed the ability of the Jews.

Sanballat et al suggested building the wall was impossible and whatever effort was put in  wouldn’t amount to much.

Nehemiah’s response was classic.²

Instead of engaging in a war of words. He declared his faith in the God who had commissioned him and kept going.

When that tactic failed, a physical attack was planned and after Nehemiah got to know, he again called on his trusted source of help, and posted a guard to meet that threat.³

All this while dealing with the logistic challenges that naturally occurred with any sizeable project.

Fatigue was setting in among the people, and with the constant taunts and lies coming from the anti-cheer leading squad, the hearts of the builders were turning to fear.

Hearing this, Nehemiah took pragmatic action. He secured vulnerable attack points, encouraged the people with reminders of God’s faithfulness, and armed his builders.⁴

The next wave of attack was directed at Nehemiah.

He was called to come meet his enemies but refused to be distracted, citing his project too great a work for me to come down.⁵

Even when he was tagged an insurgent in what was a blatant lie, he prayed for God to strengthen his hands and refused to give in.⁶

Notice a consistent thread? With every fresh wave of attack, Nehemiah’s instinctive response was to turn to God.

Still the enemy didn’t quit, and this time they feigned friendship and care for his welfare⁷ and when that failed, their final attempt was to hire someone to intimidate him.⁸

In spite of all that, Nehemiah prayed, worked and finished the wall to the awe and fear of the surrounding enemies and enemy nations.⁹

You’ve been called to a good work.

Work that will be a blessing to many

Do expect opposition.

Don’t ascribe logic to their motives. Evil has a singular intent. To destroy.

The good news?

The tactics used against us haven’t changed much.

The evil one comes in a multipronged form; using detractors, distractions and even allies

He will belittle, lie, pretend and intimidate and he won’t let up as long as he has room to operate.

His job is to stop you, whether by distraction, lies or fear.

God offers us Nehemiah’s strategy as a way out.

Always pray.

That was Nehemiah’s go-to with every fresh wave of attack.

He prayed and trusted God to stifle whatever form the attack was in.

He also armed his men.

Take whatever measures you need to.

Protect yourself in your vulnerable spots.

Maybe your distraction comes in the form of an addiction and you need accountability to forestall that.

Maybe you easily get discouraged and you need to actively seek out encouraging voices.

Wherever your weakness, God is able to grant wisdom and fortification.

Keep going.

Very few things can beat a relentless spirit, and a relentless spirit backed by God is unstoppable.

In case you do lack that dose of relentlessness in your spirit, follow Nehemiah’s path.

Pray and trust in the Lord who’s got your back.

After completing the wall, Nehemiah made a statement that I absolutely love.

When our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and they lost their self-confidence because they realized that the work had been done with the help of God.

The finish line will be witnessed by more than you know.

Nehemiah finished in record time using the so-called feeble Jews who were not supposed to be able to build anything.¹⁰

Lesson: Nehemiah did not let up and God did the awesome through him.

We’ve been called in spite of the opposition, and God knows how to get us through whatever lies between us and victory.

And the victory is going to be well worth it.

We all need a God who is stronger than any opposition just as we need the reminder of Nehemiah to cross the finish line.

When in doubt: pray.

¹ Neh 2v19

² Neh 2 v 20

³ Neh 4 v 9

⁴ Neh 4v 13-14

⁵ Neh 6v2

⁶ Neh 6 v 9

⁷ Neh 6 v 10- 12

⁸ Neh 6 v 19

⁹ Neh 6 v 15-17

¹⁰ Neh 4 v 2-3