Plots Against Builders!

So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart. But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem's walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat. Nehemiah 4:6-9 NIV

Through every life a little rain must fall and during the building process of almost anything, we run into Sanballats--who are determined to mock what we do and stir up trouble.

I can imagine that anyone who has been the founder of anything has run into the same problem the determined Jews faced while they were trying to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem.

They had their share of mockers and scorners--just as people do today. Plotters--the ones who simply cannot stand to see success that they did not create and since they did nothing to promote the success, they do everything in their power to tear it down. They keep people stirred up with blatant lies and half truths (still whole lies), angry that they are not getting what they want out of life and are determined to hinder the success of those around them.

I've known of a couple of these types throughout the years--whenever I've been involved with "building" just about anything. The first non-profit organization I established as a teen-ager in high was mocked by those who didn't understand the vision and when it succeeded without them, they stirred up trouble. There was a clique that didn't want me to receive any recognition for the establishment of the organization, but the teachers who sponsored it for me made sure that all was the way it was supposed to be. And long after I left the school, the organization thrived.

Let's face it. Some people are builders and some are plotters against building. The builders spend their time planning and doing, organizing what must be done and making sure things are done. The plotters--those who simply sit around gawking, laughing and making fun of those actually working--are the naysayers--always finding fault with those who are only interested in getting the job done.

The one sure way, builders can move plotters out of their way is by prayer. We know what God has put in our hearts to do and no matter what the plotters do, God's plans will succeed. When we pray and believe that we doing what God desires us to do, the plotters don't have a chance. Unfortunately, some of them won't realize that until they suffer the same fate as those of old--total humiliation when they cannot stop God.

Whatever God has called upon us to do--when we diligently work to please Him, we are guaranteed success and the building continues--in the face of the naysayers.

Remember this--the Philistines laughed at David, but David prevailed against the giant. Joseph's brothers laughed at him and sold him into slavery, but he still rose to a position of authority. They mocked Jesus--and said, "he's nothing but a carpenter" and He continued to raise the dead and heal the sick and is now Lord of Lords.

Don't let the mockery of the plotters stop you from building whatever it is that God has placed in your heart. Pray, Work and Achieve--exposing the plotters for who they are.