Nehemiah’s Leadership Playbook: Dealing with Adversaries (1)

Dealing with Adversaries

But it so happened, when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, that he was furious and very indignant, and mocked the Jews. And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish—stones that are burned?” Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall.” Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn their reproach on their own heads, and give them as plunder to a land of captivity! – Nehemiah 4:1-4

Apart from haters and mockers, another obstacle that a visionary leader will need to contend and deal with are adversaries. Adversaries are those people who are hostile towards you and set themselves up to harm you for no reason, except for jealousy and their own insecurity. Dealing with them is another leadership lesson we learn from Nehemiah’s playbook.

Sanballat and Tobiah were no strangers to Nehemiah and the people of Judah. They had been in the picture from the beginning of the project Nehemiah was overseeing, and they did not hide their dismay at the work. In chapter 2, we read how they mocked and laughed at the Jews for starting the work. However, as the project progressed and seemed to be nearing completion, these men turned from haters to adversaries, becoming very furious and saying all sorts to demoralize the workers.

In dealing with them, Nehemiah did two things the first of which we will be meditating on today. He prayed. Nehemiah was discerning enough to know that an important project such as he was undertaking could not have gone without resistance. He also realized that such resistance as he might face would surely have a spiritual angle to them. Therefore, in dealing with the nuisance of Sanballat and Tobiah, the first thing he did was to pray to God.

He simply committed the development to God and asked for His intervention. The Bible says most of the resistance we face on the path of destiny are deeply rooted in spiritual sources and not just from humans (Ephesians 6:12). Even though we truly may be getting the negative vibes and troubles from fellow humans, they may just be the physical vessels being used by evil forces to obstruct good things. This was the truth Nehemiah knew that made him resort first to prayer in combating the threat of his adversaries.

As soon as you set your mind to do a good thing or undertake a noble initiative that would bless lives, you can rest assured that you would experience obstacles aimed at distracting and stopping you (1 Corinthians 16:9). You should be deliberate in dealing these so as to ensure the success of your project, and one good way of doing that is to be prayerful and be consistent in doing so.

You Will Succeed in Jesus Name!

Also read:

• Nehemiah’s Leadership Playbook: Connection
• The Stones of Life
• Healed of Ulcerative Colitis