1. All Of Us, At Some Point, Will Deal With Opposition

Opposition Or Conflict Can Happen In Your…
– Business
– Family
– Friendships
– Workplace

Roughly 1,000 Years After Moses And 400 Years Before The Birth Of Christ. Jerusalem Is In A Desolate State. The Jewish Nations Were Destroyed, And The Babylonians Conquered Jerusalem And Deported Almost Everyone From The City And Region. For Roughly 70 Years, Jerusalem Was Like A Ghost Town.

• The Book Of Nehemiah Begins 15 Years After The Book Of Ezra Ends.
• Nearly 100 Years After The First Captives Came Back To The Promised Land.
• Some 150 Years After The City Of Jerusalem Was Destroyed.

Fourteen Years After Ezra Returned To Jerusalem, God Raised Up Nehemiah And Called Him To Rebuild The Walls Of Jerusalem.

• But How Did Nehemiah Accomplish Rebuilding The Walls When So Many Others Had Failed?
• What Did Nehemiah Do Different?
• What Can We Learn From Nehemiah That We Can Apply To Our Own Lives When We Face Opposition?

2. In The Face Of Opposition, He Had Persistent Prayer

And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”
Nehemiah 1:3

As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I said, O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants.”
Nehemiah 1:4-6

“O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”
Nehemiah 1:11

Prayer Is Not The Last Resort, Prayer Is The First Resort

3. God Opens Doors For His People

“And give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was a cupbearer to the king.
Nehemiah 1:11

Sends Nehemiah To Jerusalem

When wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid.
Nehemiah 2:1-2

I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?”
Nehemiah 2:3-4

So, I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.”
Nehemiah 2:5

And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So, it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me to the governors of the province Beyond the River.
Nehemiah 2:6

Favor And Prayers Answered

• The King’s Immediate Response Was One Of Encouragement And Assistance.
• Do You Think Nehemiah’s Prayers Helped Soften The King’s Heart?

Next Nehemiah…

• Inspects The Jerusalem Walls Later In Chapter 2
• He Gathers Builders For The Wall In Chapter 3
• But In Chapter 4 He Starts Facing Opposition

Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?”
Nehemiah 4:1-2

And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”
Nehemiah 4:14

• Nehemiah Reminded Them That They Were Not Fighting Alone. That They Had God On Their Side.
• Nehemiah Also Reminded Them They Were Doing This Not Just For Themselves But For Their Families.

4. The Decisions And The Hard Work You Put In Today Will Impact Your Family For Generations

When our enemies heard that it was known to us and that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work. From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah, who were building the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other.
Nehemiah 4:15-17

And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another. In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”
Nehemiah 4:19-20

• Brick By Brick, Your Life Is Being Built.
• You Were Not Meant To Build It Alone!

So, the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month of Elul, in fifty-two days. And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.
Nehemiah 6:15

• For 100 Years The Wall Was Not Completed And It Took Nehemiah 2 Months To Finish It.
• They Had Overcome Every Evil Opposition.
• God Had Open Doors For Nehemiah To Have Favor With The King Of Persia.
• They Helped One Another.
• They Had Persistent Prayer And Faith.

5. One Of The Great Struggles Of Humanity Is The Perseverance And The Will To FINISH

Perseverance Means To “Continue in the course of action, even in the face of difficulty or with little or no prospect of success.”

• No Matter How Difficult The Task, No Matter How Inconvenient The Timing,
  No Matter How I Feel Or What I Am Experiencing Emotionally. I MUST PERSEVERE!
• We Must FINISH Even When We Become Disheartened And Setbacks. We Must PRESS ON And PRESS FORWARD!

God Ensured Philippians 3:14 Was In His Word Because He Knew We Would Need This Truth To Help Us PRESS ON.

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:14