One of the hardest things for Christians to cope with in a strange and foreign culture is to be laughed at.

We can stand over hostility, but to be belittled, or scorned, or held in contempt,

to be the butt of a cultural joke is more than we can bear.

Have you ever been laughed at because you stood up for what you believed in?

Because you chose to obey God rather than the immoral pressure of the day,

I think that experience is common to most Christians, and it happened in Nehemiah's day as well.

Today we'll be in the book of Nehemiah as we visit various Old Testament books and people all week on renewing your mind.

So how should we live and pursue the Great Commission when we're in a time of opposition?

How do we relate to those in government, especially if they disagree without God-given agenda?

Nehemiah found himself in a similar situation, and RC Sproul draws many lessons for us from his story.

I found this message encouraging and challenging, especially as I look around and see what is taking place.

And I hope you do too. Here's Dr. Sproul.

We continue now with our study of Nehemiah.

And we recall that when Nehemiah received word from his friends of the state of affairs back in Jerusalem,

he was deeply grieved and gave himself to a period of protracted mourning and then went into a period of prayer and fasting before God.

So that the first thing he did in his life to address the problems that he saw in his own culture was to go to God.

And he asked God to do something about the situation.

And that may seem simplistic to you.

But one of the differences between Nehemiah and so many of us today is that this man really believed in the sovereignty of God.

And he really believed in the providence of God and was really convinced that the future destiny of Jerusalem and of the people of Israel were in the hands of God.

And so that's where he goes. And he asked God to work.

But he doesn't stop there.

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