I love reading biographies of leaders. It inspires me to learn how they took discouraged, defeated groups of people and helped them experience victory. Some of the best leadership stories are in the Bible. People used to ask my dad if there were any leadership books he recommended. He would often respond, “Yes, as a matter of fact, there are. Have you read Nehemiah lately?” The person who asked the question would invariably get embarrassed and say, “I mean besides the Bible!” My dad would grin and respond, “Yes, I knew what you meant.”
Nehemiah is a prototypical leader in many ways. He was a Jewish refugee whose family was taken into captivity under the Babylonians. The Persian empire subsequently conquered the Babylonians and became the superpower of the ancient world. Somehow, Nehemiah, a refugee, became the cupbearer to the most powerful person on the planet. Clearly, he was viewed as skilled and reliable. King Xerxes, Esther’s husband, had been assassinated in a palace coup. His successor, King Artaxerxes, would have therefore been highly sensitive to the slightest trace of disloyalty among his servants. It says a great deal about Nehemiah’s character and leadership skills that he won the king’s trust.
It strikes me that Nehemiah doesn’t mention his job title until the last verse of chapter one (1:11). If you were the chief advisor or head of the secret service for the president of the United States, how far into your bio would you get before disclosing your job title? Yet Nehemiah learned that serving the King of kings was a much grander role than serving the greatest king on earth.
Nehemiah was living the good life, having reached the pinnacle of success. It’s unlikely that he spent much time worrying about what he was missing. He thought he had it all. Then his brother Hanani and some friends came from Jerusalem to visit him. Nehemiah asked them about Jerusalem. When he learned that it lay in ruins and the people had experienced much disgrace, Nehemiah wept and fasted for many days.
God has a way of getting people’s attention. Nehemiah couldn’t stop weeping at what he heard. When God grips your heart over something, he may be inviting you to become part of the solution. What is currently causing you to weep?
Nehemiah commenced a prayer in which he drew heavily from the book of Deuteronomy. He used Scripture to understand what was happening. I often saw my dad watch the news with the remote in one hand and his Bible in the other. The world was telling him what was occurring, and the Bible was revealing God’s perspective of those events. Before Nehemiah got to work, he prayed over the situation until he was certain of what God wanted him to do. The reason Nehemiah could undertake such a colossal task with confidence was because he had thoroughly prayed over the matter before he began.
Babylon had destroyed Jerusalem in 587 B.C., and the walls were still in ruins 140 years later. In a century and a half, no one had rebuilt them. Children in Jerusalem grew up playing among the rubble. As they got older, their children and grandchildren did the same. They had become generational ruin dwellers! After living among ruins for so long, it was all they knew.
Sometimes it’s better for leaders to come from the outside. Outsiders often recognize what’s unhealthy and understand how things should be. People who have grown up amidst dysfunction assume their situation is normal. Churches that have perpetually struggled to grow assume they are simply in a community that is closed to the gospel. Businesses that fail to reach profitability believe they are in a tough market. If all you have ever known is struggle, you likely think struggle is normal.
Nehemiah’s story demonstrates the power of good leadership. A city of followers had been unable to repair the walls in 140 years. Yet God introduced a leader, and the walls went up in 56 days! Leaders and followers both have a God-given role. But never mistake the fact that God uses leaders to achieve breakthroughs and help people overcome problems.
Nehemiah prayed that God would grant him success. That request might appear self-serving at first, but he was doing God’s work. We can pray with boldness when we are asking God to accomplish his will!
Our world needs more Nehemiahs. Evil has wrought destruction across the land. Churches are declining. Families are estranged. Marriages are broken. Organizations are polarized. When the walls come down, people are vulnerable to attacks from the enemy. God’s people require Nehemiah’s heart for restoring and building up what the enemy has destroyed. Satan seeks to tear down what God has created to be good. He delights in demolishing anything that glorifies God. When God draws our attention to something that breaks our heart, we shouldn’t be surprised if he also calls us to action.
Perhaps God is drawing your attention to the fact that your church used to have a vibrant men’s or women’s ministry. Maybe your church had an active prayer meeting that is now in shambles. God may be calling you to step in and build up the walls. I know a woman who was burdened that the adults at her family gatherings sat around in front of the TV watching sports and ignored the children. She took it upon herself to call a moratorium on such behavior. She organized games that included the adults and children. Those family gatherings experienced rejuvenation, and much joy resulted. She saw her family deteriorating, and she stepped in to make necessary changes.
Don’t wait for someone else to make your world better. Move in and start rebuilding. People will join you, and soon you will have something that truly blesses people and glorifies God.
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