I’m reading Tony Dungy’s Quiet Strength and he mentioned valuable leadership lessons he learned from the book of Nehemiah. I thought I might read it. I opened my Bible and Sandra had a paper clip to bookmark Psalms. The backside of the paper clip was on…drumroll…the first chapter of Nehemiah. Yeah, I guess I should read it.
Many people will use Nehemiah to teach leadership principles. No doubt. They should. He got a bunch of unskilled laborers to rebuild a 2.5 mile wall in 52 days. That takes great leadership.
I learned some other things.
God put a work on Nehemiah’s heart. That work was to rebuild a wall. Nehemiah had his critics and he had opposition. He answered that opposition with preparation and readiness.
Life lessons.
God calls us to His work. Often it’s a rebuilding work. Our marriage, our finances, a relationship, our faith, our business, our self-esteem. Whatever. We can expect any work that glorifies God and rebuilds good things to have challenges. That’s the Enemy’s job.
Just like Nehemiah, we need to be prepared to fight. If God called us to the work, it’s worth defending. Much of the preparation is prayer. It’s notable that Nehemiah’s wall took 52 days to rebuild, but he prayed about it more than twice as long. About 4 months.
So be ready to fight. It’s worth it. But before the fight be prayed up.
Onword and Upwords by Dennis Brady 