A Special Thanks To My Sideline Haters

"Sideline haters are those  who are in or from a position in which they are observing a situation, but are unable or unwilling to be directly involved in it."

There are 3 types of people that you will come into contact with during your walk with God. First, you have those that make things happen. These are the diligent people with a made up mind that going backwards, is not an option. They will do whatever it takes to get the job done, even if it mean doing it all by themselves. Next are those that watch things happen. These are the ones who never want to participate in anything, they just wish to see you fail at what you are doing so that they will have something to talk about. They are also the ones that are sent to distract, discredit, discourage and derail your progress. Lastly, are those who ask what happened! I call them the "sleepwalkers". These are the ones who are not attentive to the things of God, they are just there; spiritually disconnected. Nehemiah was an example of those that made things happen. One obstacle that Nehemiah faced, was what I call the "sideline haters". Nehemiah 2:19 reads: "But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed us to scorn and despised us and said, What is this thing you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?" This was a sideline hater in the worst way. Nehemiah says, "I answered them, The God of heaven will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or memorial in Jerusalem." These haters just kept on coming, but Nehemiah kept on working.


Please understand, when you are on a mission for God, the devil gets mad and indignant when you are diligent! Nehemiah 4:1-3 reads: "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.” Now they are trying to discourage Nehemiah and his crew from doing their work.
You see, sideliners are those who are in or from a position in which they are observing a situation but are unable or unwilling to be directly involved in it. Do you know someone like that? If they can't be a part of something, whether it's because they are unwilling or unable to, they want to see your efforts fail. Nehemiah handled his sideline haters by praying for them. How will you handle yours? The next time you see your haters on the sideline, just give them a love wave. Remember, these are your supporters, because no one can encourage and motivate you like a sideline hater!