You Don’t Need to Fight Critics

[You Don’t Need to Fight Critics]( Current Teaching Series [A Toolbox for Life: Skills You Need to Succeed]( [Listen to Today's Broadcast]( [You Don’t Need to Fight Critics]( By Rick Warren — 04/07/2021 [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Pinterest]( [Email]( “So I replied by sending this message to them: ‘I am engaged in a great work, so I can’t come. Why should I stop working to come and meet with you?’ Four times they sent the same message, and each time I gave the same reply.” Nehemiah 6:3-4 (NLT) God uniquely created you for an important assignment on Earth that only you can accomplish. But you will face naysayers along the way. They’ll tell you: “You’re the wrong person. You’ve got the wrong idea. You’re doing it the wrong way.” Take the Old Testament story of Nehemiah, for example. Nehemiah wasn’t a pastor or a priest. He was a businessman. Israel had been taken captive by the Babylonians. The Israelites had been in exile for 70 years—and then the Babylonians let them go home. Jerusalem had been destroyed and was defenseless. But Nehemiah got a big idea to change that. “I’ll rebuild my city,” he thought. “And I’ll start by rebuilding the wall to protect it.” Nehemiah’s story teaches that every opportunity comes with opposition. For Nehemiah, the opposition was instant. Israel’s enemies didn’t want to see Jerusalem defended. They tried all sorts of things to stop him from rebuilding the wall. They tried ridicule, rumors, and threats. When none of that worked, they tried to slow him down by involving him in bunch of meetings. Your critics—the naysayers who want to prevent you from doing what the Lord has called you to do—will use the same bag of tricks. They’ll ridicule you, spread rumors about you, and even threaten you to get you to stop doing what God wants you to do. But instead of listening to them, respond the way that Nehemiah did: “So I replied by sending this message to them: ‘I am engaged in a great work, so I can’t come. Why should I stop working to come and meet with you?’ Four times they sent the same message, and each time I gave the same reply” (Nehemiah 6:3-4 NLT). You don’t need to fight with naysayers. It’s not worth it. If you try to take on people who have a negative opinion about God’s plans for you, you’ll just waste your time. Nehemiah didn’t defend his work. You don’t need to defend yourself either. Just let the naysayers’ criticisms go. One day God’s work through your life will be proven correct. Have enough faith to wait for that day to come. [PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>]( Talk It Over - Why is it so hard to ignore naysayers? - How have you faced opposition and naysayers as you’ve followed God? - What might you say to naysayers based on what you’ve learned today? The post [You Don’t Need to Fight Critics]( appeared first on [Pastor Rick's Daily Hope](. [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Pinterest]( [Email]( [Get the Toolbox for Life Study Kit when you give a gift to support Daily Hope]( Sincere desire and determination alone are not enough to succeed in life. True success comes by working God's way — and the Bible is full of instruction to help! That’s why Pastor Rick put together A Toolbox for Life — a 4-session DVD and workbook study kit to help you discover and develop essential skills found in the Bible that pave the way for success. Skills that will equip you to be more effective as you lead in your home, work, school, and community. [LEARN MORE]( [Complete Audio Series (Purchase)]( Includes 4 full-length messages from Pastor Rick's series A Toolbox for Life. [LEARN MORE]( [Series Summary]( Message 1: Ignoring the Naysayers Message 2: Knowing What Matters Most Message 3: Maximizing Your Strengths Message 4: Learning to Be Both Fast and Slow [PLAY TODAY'S BROADCAST]( Pastor Rick Warren [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Linkedin]( Enjoy today's devotional? Listen to Pastor Rick’s daily audio teaching at [PastorRick.com]( Did someone forward this devotional to you? [Subscribe to Pastor Rick Warren's Daily Devotional.]( As the founding pastor of Saddleback Church with his wife Kay, Dr. Rick Warren leads a 30,000-member congregation in California with campuses in major cities around the world. As an author, his book [The Purpose Driven Life]( is one of the best-selling nonfiction books in publishing history. It has been translated into 74 languages and sold more than 50 million copies in all formats. His book [The Purpose Driven Church]( was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the century. 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