The first chapter of Nehemiah ended with a single sentence:

Now I was cupbearer to the king.

In the second chapter we learn that the king must have liked Nehemah pretty well. The prophet states that he had not been said in the king's presence, yet the king knew that there was something wrong. And he cared enough to ask about it - and Nehemiah unloaded:

"Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?"

The king asked (Ellen's paraphrase), "so, what do you want me to do about it?" Nehemiah took time to pray and then asked the king to allow him to go rebuild Jerusalem.

Not only did the king let him go to rebuild Jerusalem, he sent him with letters that would let him pass through the lands safely, would let him get timber, and to build a house for Nehemiah to stay in, and sent him with officers of the army and horses! Why? Nehemiah tells us it was because, "the good hand of my God was upon me [Nehemiah]."

In the second part of the chapter, we find Nehemiah's enemies:

But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah, the Ammonite servant, heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.

Nehemiah went along on his way and inspected the walls, which were in a shambles. He made plans and gave a "pep talk".

Then I said to them, "You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision." And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me.

And the people were with him...

But not all...

But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah, the Ammonite servant, heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.

As Nehemiah's story continues, these guys show up again and again.

First, they make fun of him and his mission:

But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us and said, "What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?

But Nehemiah continued in the Lord's work.

How does this apply us today?

Do you have a "mission"?  Something that the Lord has laid upon you?

Is there somebody who might jeer at you?

Is there any way that you feel like a "Nehemiah" today?