[Cup Of Faith Daily Devotional 29 November 2022] Topic: Ridicule: A Weapon Of Opposition

TOPIC — Ridicule: A Weapon Of Opposition

BIBLE TEXT: “When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews…” – Nehemiah 4:1-3

One of the major instruments of opposition is ridicule. If people want to get at you and block your chances and opportunities of achieving success and attaining greater feats in life, they resort to ridicule. In today’s text, using Nehemiah as a case study, there are three ways people engage in the use of ridicule for opposing others.

The first is by the means of character assassination. Opposition sometimes comes in the form of character assassination. People, for no just cause, attack your character and your identity. In Nehemiah 4 and verses 1-3, when Sanballat, one of Nehemiah’s critics, heard that they were achieving success in rebuilding the broken wall, the Bible says that he became very angry and highly indignant. He began to ridicule the Jews. The Bible records in verse three that Tobias the Ammonite supported him and became an accomplice in the business of ridicule.

It becomes important to know that when people attack you, it’s typically with their emotions, not their logic. In fact, by the time they’re attacking you, they’ve stopped thinking clearly. When people are angry or afraid, they resort to name-calling and even lies. Their words can hurt, but those words do not change your identity or purpose. The first thing that happened to Sanballat was anger. At that point, he had lost his sense of reasoning. Everything he was saying to ridicule the Jews was pretty much nonsensical. Those who attack your identity and assassinate your character are only responding to emotions, they are not logical in their thinking, hence, you do not necessarily need to pay attention to them.

The second way by which people engage the weapon of ridicule to block your God-given opportunity is to accuse you of having wrong motives. This is revealed in verse 4 of today’s text. Nehemiah’s critics questioned his motives. Sanballat suggested that they were rebuilding the wall for their glory and selfish purposes. Even when you are trying to do something from a sincere heart, your critics might misinterpret and discredit you. Don’t give a damn! According to 1 Kings 8:39, only God knows the hearts of all mankind.

The third means of engaging ridicule to block people’s opportunities is to predict failure. In today’s text, one person after another began to predict that Nehemiah would fail. Tobias even said that if a fox should walk on the wall, it would collapse. This shows the extent to which people will go to predict your failure so as to discourage you. When you set a goal, announce a vision, or begin a business, many will be quick to forecast your failure but you always have the choice to give a godly response.

Beloved of God, don’t give in to opposition and don’t allow any form of ridicule to distract and stop you from advancing in the path of progress. See opportunities in your opposition.

PROPHETIC PRAYER

I pray for you today:

May the Almighty God strengthen your heart amid opposition in the name of Jesus.
The Lord will fight for you and vindicate you.
Those who oppose you will never succeed.
Those who predict your failure shall celebrate your success with you.
I decree all-around victory, success, and breakthrough for you today.
So shall it be in Jesus’ name. Amen

Have a victorious day.

CHRIST IS THE ANSWER.

Yours in Christ,
Revd Dr. Bayo Sola Aremu
Church pastor
Yaba Baptist Church
Sabo-Yaba, Lagos

If you just prayed the prayer of salvation online please send your testimonies and prayer request to yababaptist@yahoo.com, ‎+234 1 291 3962, +234 706 469 0938.

Henry | Categories: Devotional

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