You’re reading NEHEMIAH: LESSONS IN REBUILDING, by Eric Elder, featuring 15 inspiring devotionals based on one of the most ambitious rebuilding projects of all time. Also available in paperback and eBook formats in our bookstore for a donation of any size!

Scripture Reading: Nehemiah 4:1-5

Has anyone ever laughed when you told them about your “good idea”?  It can be disheartening, but it doesn’t have to destroy your plans.  Just keep going back to the Lord in prayer, putting your hope and trust in Him.

I remember someone laughed at me when I told them I wanted to start a ministry on the Internet.  She said, “But not everyone has a connection to the Internet!”  I already had doubts of my own, and her comments didn’t help.

But in the same instant, God brought to mind the incredible potential He had shown me for the idea.  I had put a great deal of thought into how it could work, and I knew the idea had merit.  More importantly, I felt God had His hand in the idea. Somehow I found the courage to respond to her remark by saying, “You’re right, not everyone has a connection to the Internet yet.  But I’ll start with the 30 million that are connected and work my way up from there!”  (That was back in 1995 when the Internet was just taking off for public use.  As I write this, there are now over 1.5 billion people connected to the Internet―and counting!)

It’s hard to face opposition to your ideas especially when you have you’re just getting started.  But by going back to the Lord in prayer, He can help you through it.

People laughed at Nehemiah and his fellow Jews when they had the “good idea” to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, too.  Here’s what a couple of people said to them as they began rebuilding:

“When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, ‘What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble―burned as they are?’  Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, ‘What they are building―if even a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones!’ ” (Nehemiah 4:1-4).

Nehemiah and his fellow Jews may have had their own doubts, too, but they didn’t let the ridicule discourage them.  They simply went to the Lord in prayer.  They prayed:

“Hear us, O our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders” (Nehemiah 4:4-5).

It was a pretty strongly worded prayer, but the fact is they prayed.  They put their hope and trust in their God to vindicate them in their cause.  You may prefer to pray as Jesus prayed, asking God to bless those who don’t yet understand what you’re attempting to do, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). In any case, turn to the Lord in prayer.

God vindicated Nehemiah, and time after time, God has vindicated me.  Sometimes He even blesses those who have previously laughed at my ideas in ways they couldn’t have imagined.

When I used to work for a secular company, I promoted a project that would allow the employees to work from home.  This was before the idea of “telecommuting” had caught on, and very few people had such an opportunity.  One man in my company told me point blank it was dumb idea and would never work.  But I went forward with the project and ten of us moved home to test it out.  Within six months it was shown to be so successful the company allowed more people to apply to do the same.

This man who had laughed at my idea decided to apply.  He moved back to his own hometown, about four hours away from where he used to work, and he later told me what a blessing it was to him and his family, and how thankful he was that our project had proved him wrong.

The next time someone laughs at your “good idea,” just turn your heart back to God in prayer.

Prayer: Father, help me have the wisdom to pray to you when others laugh at what You’ve called me to do.  Bless them, Lord, even in spite of what they are saying.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.