Keep Building

Comeback | Monday Reflection | Week 3

"But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat." — Nehemiah 4:9

Sunday you heard about the moment the critics got loud. Sanballat and Tobiah showed up with their full repertoire of mockery. The wall is weak. The workers are tired. You will never finish. Sound familiar?

Here is what Nehemiah did not do. He did not call a meeting to discuss whether the criticism had merit. He did not slow down to explain himself. He did not post a response. He prayed and he kept building. The people worked with all their heart. The wall went up half the height because the people had a mind to work.

Most of us give our critics more of our attention than they deserve. We let their voice get louder in our heads than the voice of the One who gave us the assignment. We rehearse what they said. We build counter-arguments in the shower. We slow down in the places where they told us we would fail just to prove they were wrong, which means they are still setting our pace.

Here is the thing about critics. They get louder when your comeback gets closer. The noise is not a sign that something is wrong. It is a sign that something is working.

This week, stop rehearsing what they said. You have heard it enough. Pray and pick up the tools. The wall does not build itself while you are reading the comment section.

Keep your eyes on the work. The people who matter are not the ones talking about what you are building. They are the ones standing next to you holding a tool.
Build.