What do the critics say?

Who are your critics? Do you listen to them? Do they keep you from doing what needs to be done? I was reading Nehemiah this morning and began to wonder if I listen too much to the critics. As I was reading, I kept seeing these three names pop up frequently - Sandy, Toby and Gus (actually it was Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite and Geshem the Arab but that was a little much to say each time.) They were a little upset that someone was going to change the ways things had been. They liked the status quo and didn't want any changes to that. They ridiculed. They pointed out that it wouldn't work. They formed a group and caused as much trouble as they could. They tried to set up a meeting to keep Nehemiah from his work of rebuilding the wall. The told lies to try to incite the people. They tried intimidating him to quit. For years (years... and you thought your critics were persistent) these critics kept trying to keep Nehemiah from his vision and purpose. What did he do? Basically he ignored them. He turned it over to God and asked him to deal with it. He had a purpose and wasn't going to be sidetracked by the critics. Are you giving too much time to the critics? Focusing on them instead of your purpose? Or are you the critic? Distracting people from what they need to be doing.