"A Great Work”
How to Respond to Adversity:
Recap:
1. Define Your PURPOSE2. Determine Your CIRCLE3. Defend Your WORK
Nehemiah 4:1-20
If you are going in the RIGHT DIRECTION, the enemy will attack you.
1. Stay on the Wall, CONTINUE, Your Work(Nehemiah 6:3)
If you wait until there is NO OPPOSITION, you will never fulfill your purpose.
We must learn to operate within our gifting and to realize that opposition is going to be present.
Gifting and ADVERSITY come as a package.
Note:
The opposition did not define Nehemiah or his Great Work.
** The enemy shouts but God whispers. The enemy shouts to distract us but
God is near and therefore whispers.
** Never make a permanent decision during a temporary trial.
2. Identify Vulnerable Places
Where are you VULNERABLE ?
A. Identify TRENDS.
B. Ask Someone to POINT OUT VULNERABLE areas in your life. C. Put a PLAN in place to STRENGTHEN those areas.
Note:
When Nehemiah fortified the weak places, the enemy’s plan was thwarted.
(Nehemiah 4:15)
When we get serious about growth, God fortifies us and it prevents the plans of evil.
“Resist the devil and he will flee from you”
(James 4:7)
3. The Greatest response to adversity is to PRAY ABOUT IT.
Yes, He worked, He identified, He fortified, but ultimately, He PRAYED.
A good rule to live by: “Talk to God about it BEFORE you talk to anyone else about it.
Stay Close to God everyday, but PLAN special times with God. Get a spiritual NOTEBOOK or JOURNAL.
I want to encourage you today.
When the enemy brings adversity into your life:
1. Stay committed to your work.
2. Identify vulnerability and strengthen that area.
3. PRAY