Leadership - 2

One of the character studies for the recent leadership seminar was Nehemiah.  He was serving as a cupbearer to the Persian king when he heard the report on the condition of Jerusalem.  The report was not good.  The city walls were torn down and the gates were burned.  This left the city defenseless, vulnerable to attack at any time for anywhere.  Above all else, the city’s condition was dishonorable to God.  Someone needed to do something. But who?

How could Nehemiah do anything?  He lived in a distant land as a trusted servant to the king; how could he expect to go?  The king did not just let servants go on extended trips “back home.”  There was one thing in his favor, God.  He knew God was able to accomplish what humans often consider impossible.  So he prayed, but not how we might imagine.  We would think the prayer would be for God to let him go and repair the walls. This was not the prayer of Nehemiah.

His prayer first asked God to hear.  Then he confessed sin, first of the Jewish nation, then his own sin.  It was not “we sinned, forgive us.”  First, he confessed sin in the nation, his father’s house, and his own sin.  He then stated:   “We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept  the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandest thy servant Moses” (1:6,7).  Not until verse eleven does he request God’s help with the king; asking God to “grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”  He prayed “day and night” (verse 6) until he had opportunity to make his request of the king. When it came, he prayed again (2:4).

Prayer was not the only thing Nehemiah did for the city.  He also had a plan in mind for the time when the king would speak with him about his desire to return and rebuild the walls.  He knew how much time would be needed, he requested travel papers for the governors to ensure his safety while traveling, and authorization for timber from the king’s forest to rebuild the walls, and a house for him to live in.

We need to have the attitude of Nehemiah.  He felt some responsibility for the continuing condition of the city.  What did he do to contribute?  I do not know, but his prayer indicates he felt some personal guilt for it.  When was the last time you bared your soul and confessed specific sins to God?  When did you take some personal responsibility for a failed work or project of the church?  When did you last see something that needed to be done and thought “somebody needs to do something?”  Did you pray about it?  Did you think of a plan, or offer to help develop a plan to accomplish the needed work?  May we raise up Nehemiahs for the Lord’s work today.

—Denny