Opposition

Opposition

Noadiah

Read: Nehemiah 6:14

As Martha drove home from the meeting, she thought about the tough decision she faced. Several women had practically begged her to chair the committee for another year, but she just didn’t know. Martha didn’t mind the extra hours, but there was one problem—and she usually sat at the end of the table. Dee was loud and brash. She voiced opposition to every project someone suggested and made critical remarks after meetings. She seemed to be more interested in pushing her own agenda than in working as part of a team. Martha wasn’t sure that she could stand another year of Dee’s intimidation.

Only one verse in the Bible mentions Noadiah, but it identifies her as a woman who tried to intimidate Nehemiah, a man who was supervising a project for God. When the Israelites returned to Jerusalem after seventy years of Babylonian captivity, God appointed Nehemiah to oversee the rebuilding of the city walls. Nehemiah faced stiff opposition from Israel’s enemies and from some of his own people. Of all the false prophets who threatened and schemed to stop the rebuilding, only Noadiah is specifically named. She must have been loud, brash, and bold in her antagonism toward Nehemiah, but her efforts did not succeed against the God-ordained work.

We can feel intimidated when we have to interact with loud, pushy people. It may seem easier just to avoid contact with them when that’s possible. But sometimes we face criticism or opposition because of our faith. Satan often uses other people to interfere with our witness or our work. Some people who claim to be believers are actually antagonistic toward God’s truth. But although Satan wields a powerful evil influence in the world, God’s power is far stronger. When we remember whose Spirit lives in us, we never need to feel intimidated.

You belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.

1 John 4:4