RISING HIGHER

“Overcoming Your Critics”
Pastor Doug Heisel – January 8, 2023

There are various kinds of critics that will attempt to get your ear and hold you back. Here are three:

1. The INNER critic.
   
   Judges 6:14-15 — Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!” “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!”
   

2. The SELF-RIGHTEOUS critic.
   
   Matthew 7:3-5 — Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
   

3. The ADVERSARIAL critic.

   Nehemiah 4:1-3 — When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?” Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, “What they are building—even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!”

How to Overcome Your Critics

1. Silence your inner critic by embracing your God-given IDENTITY.
   
   Judges 6:12 — The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.
   
   Judges 6:35 —...He sent messengers throughout the territory...to call them to follow him.
   
   Judges 7:15 — Get up! The LORD has given the Midianite camp into our hands…
   

2. Cancel your self-righteous critic by choosing to be a GRACE and TRUTH dispenser instead.
   
   John 1:17 — And from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; (but) grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
   

3. Nullify your adversarial critics by being problem-aware and MISSION-focused.
   
   So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.