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STRENGTH…GOD’S PROMISE FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13).
Jim George uses the story of Nehemiah (meaning “Jehovah comforts”) to illustrate a leader after God’s own heart. God calls each of us to be leaders, and that includes you. He expects you to be a leader, whoever you are, wherever you are, and whatever your job or profession. In your home. In your family. In your dorm. In your military unit. On your team. At the workplace. God wants to use you—yes, you—as a powerful voice for Him.
Philippians 4:13 promises:
- Strength in Every Circumstance. The promise—“I can do all things”. The source—Christ. Don’t miss this important truth—it’s Christ who makes this happen. He is the reason you can do “all things” in the spiritual realm.
- Strength for Purity. Keeping your mind and body pure is a challenge. As Scripture clearly states, purity is God’s will for you: “This is the will of God, your sanctification; that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust” (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5).
- Strength for Christian Living. No matter what challenge you face, or what circumstances or temptations arise (and arise they will), God promises that you can do all things through Christ and His strength.
THE TRAITS OF STRONG SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP
(1) CRISIS MANAGEMENT…DRAWS OUT YOUR LEADERSHIP
The late President John F. Kennedy made this observation: “When written in Chinese the word crisis is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.” Do you see a crisis as a danger, or as an opportunity?
Life is not easy for anyone. The U.S. Navy SEALS have a saying: “The only easy day was yesterday”—meaning today is going to be hard, so you might as well face it head-on. A leader has an ability to manage a crisis correctly.
Jerusalem and its walls were destroyed by the Babylonians in 585 BC. In spite of repeated attempts to rebuild the city, it still lay in ruins 160-plus years later. Without a wall to protect them, God’s people were defenseless. Because Jerusalem’s walls were in ruins, the Jewish people became known as the “city-without-walls people”—they lost status in the eyes of the other nations.
Responding to a Crisis
Step #1: Ask questions—If you don’t know the facts involved, you might mishandle a crisis.
A leader after God’s own heart is always interested in the hearts and welfare of God’s people.
Step #2: Listen—Nehemiah began his fact-gathering efforts by providing a sincere listening ear.
In his book The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make, Hans Finzel (who also wrote The Top Ten Leadership Commandments – http://www.outofthisworldleadership.com/2017/01/27/top-ten-leadership-commandments/) points out that one of the signs of a “paper pusher” rather than a “people worker” is that the paper pusher “listens poorly—if at all.” Obviously, a people worker makes an effort to listen.
Step #3: Seek help—No crisis is wholly unique. As King Solomon put it, “That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). A good leader will seek the wisdom of others. A Christian leader has three sources of counsel: (1) God’s wisdom as revealed in God’s Word, the Bible; (2) The wisdom of good counselors; and (3) The wisdom of the Holy Spirit through prayer.
Step #4: Determine a strategy—Based on the counsel received, a leader makes a decision and chooses an appropriate way to deal with a crisis.
Step #5: Implement and monitor the progress
(2) PRAYER…EMPOWERS YOUR LEADERSHIP
“O LORD, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” (Nehemiah 1:11).
To the average leader, the demonstration of religious faith and the need to pray—even the idea of prayer—is a sign of weakness. Here are a few reasons that prayer is so critical:
- Prayer demonstrates your dependence on God.
- Prayer eliminates pride and self-sufficiency.
- Prayer requires you to look beyond yourself and your own perceived abilities or shortcomings.
- Prayer makes you wait, slows you down. You cannot pray and plow forward at the same time.
- Prayer sharpens your vision. Most decisions are shrouded by the haze of uncertainty, and prayer helps clear away the fog.
- Prayer quiets your heart. You cannot pray and worry at the same time. “Knees don’t knock when you kneel on them.”
- Prayer energizes faith. Taking time to pray proves you are willing to trust God and spurs you to greater confidence in the Lord and a deeper commitment to His work.
E.M. Bounds observed this about strong leaders and their prayer life: “They were not leaders because of brilliance of thought, because they were exhaustless in resources, because of their magnificent culture or native endowment, but because, by the power of prayer, they could command the power of God.”
We see Nehemiah praying or involved in some aspect of prayer at least 14 times!
Unfortunately, unless prayer is a natural and regular response to anything and everything big or small, most leaders—including you and me—tend to push back urgent matters of prayer or put them on hold and give priority to lesser things.
Frankly, you can lead without God, but you can’t be a great leader without God. Let these principles from Nehemiah’s remarkable prayer life guide you to increased strength as you guide others:
- Pray to meet the needs of others.
- Pray with an open mind.
- Pray with a willing heart. Nehemiah committed himself to obeying God’s leading to use him as a part of the solution.
- Pray for the vision of others.
- Pray with persistence. Don’t give up when it seems God isn’t answering you. Persevere no matter what. Nehemiah prayed for four months before he received a clear, concise response from the Lord.
- Pray for blameless conduct. Leadership is “as much caught as taught.”
- Pray for direction. Nehemiah prayed at every step along the journey of doing God’s will.
- Pray and then act. Prayer is not a substitute for action. There should be a balance between prayer and activity, between faith in God and following God, between praying for God’s will and doing God’s will.
(3) COURAGE…SOLIDIFIES YOUR LEADERSHIP
The king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.” So I became dreadfully afraid (Nehemiah 2:2).
It’s been said that courage is not the absence of fear. Rather, it’s the ability to respond to it in an appropriate manner. You see, fear is not a bad thing. God uses this emotion to insert caution into our actions. Courage is fear under control!
In his book The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, author John Maxwell places courage at position number 6 out of 21. Under a section entitled “Courage in a Leader Inspires Commitment for Followers,” he writes: “Courage is contagious,” asserts evangelist Billy Graham. “When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened.”
Courage starts in the heart. It is not an instantaneous emotion or automatic response. The outward signs of courage result from the hard-fought battles of a reasoning heart and a questioning mind. It fights against putting the needs of self before the needs of others.
Courage takes risks. Taking risks appears to be a common denominator of highly effective leaders. They are risk-takers. It doesn’t take any amount of courage to do the ordinary. Doing the routine is simply doing your duty. But attempting the impossible takes audacity. What Nehemiah was considering to undertake was the impossible.
(4) WISDOM…PROMOTES YOUR LEADERSHIP
“If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah”…So it pleased the king to send me (Nehemiah 2:5-6).
Wisdom doesn’t just happen. It takes time and effort to gather, process, and incorporate wisdom and put it to use.
All true wisdom is found in God alone. As Ezra 7:25 says, God is wisdom. And His wisdom and knowledge are derived from no one (Job 21:22). The foundation of wisdom is to fear the Lord (Proverbs 1:7). As you honor and esteem God, live in awe of His power, and obey His Word, His wisdom becomes your wisdom.
We know that Nehemiah prayed and fasted and planned for more than three months before he acted. Wisdom is never in a hurry. Try not to make hasty decisions. Take time to think, pray, and seek advice. Paraphrasing General George S. Patton’s leadership advice, “Take as long as you can to make a decision, but do make a decision.”
Wisdom is the above-all, end-all best trait to desire. As Solomon teaches, forget riches. Forget fame. “Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding. For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, and her gain than fine gold” (Proverbs 3:13-14). Wisdom is promised to us, but we must seek it.
(5) PLANNING…BRINGS FOCUS TO YOUR LEADERSHIP
Then the king said to me, “What do you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king…“I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it” (Nehemiah 2:4-5).
There are two types of people in the world when it comes to planning:
- People who don’t plan. Normally those who don’t plan don’t prosper: “The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty” (Proverbs 21:5). There’s a long-time adage that says, “Planning ahead will get you ahead.”
- People who plan ahead. Planning is a lifestyle and a discipline for these leaders. They have lists, schedules, and goals. And they are producing results.
Here’s how one leader described planning: “Planning is an attempt to move from ‘now’ to ‘then,’ to change things from ‘the way things are’ to ‘the way things ought to be.’ ”
Studies prove what common sense tells us: the more time we spend in advance planning on a project, the less total time is required for it. Don’t let today’s busy work crowd planning time out of your schedule. Nehemiah was willing to pay the price to attempt the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and he started by developing a plan.
Planning may require the purposeful neglect of some things. Nehemiah could not do everything. He couldn’t continue to serve the king and rebuild the wall. So he chose to focus his attention on one thing—rebuilding Jerusalem. He chose to “neglect” other lesser things in order to accomplish one thing—the greater thing, the greatest thing. You can’t do everything. In fact, you cannot do most things. So you must implement a strategy of “planned neglect.” You must plan to neglect nonpriority projects, issues, or activities in order to complete well those things that are the most important.
(6) MOTIVATION…EXTENDS YOUR LEADERSHIP
I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me. So they said, “Let us rise up and build.” Then they set their hands to this good work (Nehemiah 2:18).
Motivation can be defined simply as inciting others to action. Leaders and companies use two primary forms of motivation: external motivation (through rewards like bonuses and perquisites) or intrinsic motivation, which appeals to the inner man—the heart.
It was intrinsic motivation that Nehemiah would use when he called upon the local residents in and around Jerusalem to rebuild the city walls and provide a safe haven for God’s people. As someone has noted, “Leadership is the ability to get a person to do what you want him to do, when you want it done, in a way you want it done, because he wants to do it!”
Motivation is inciting people into action, and that can include getting them excited about change. In Nehemiah’s case, he had to first create dissatisfaction before he could incite others to action. He had to get them to realize their current situation wasn’t good for them.
The former president of Columbia University once stated, “There are three kinds of people in the world—those who don’t know what’s happening, those who watch what’s happening, and those who make things happen.”
Nehemiah didn’t lay out a detailed architectural blueprint or a list of the how-tos of the project. He focused only on the end result: “Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem” (verse 17).
Motivation begins with you—be excited. When you are, others will get excited too.
(7) DELEGATION…UNLEASHES YOUR LEADERSHIP
So they said, “Let us rise up and build.” Then they set their hands to this good work (Nehemiah 2:18).
Nehemiah further determined that people be assigned to the portions of the wall right where they lived! The manner in which Nehemiah planned what to do, motivated the people to do it, then delegated the parts of the project made the seemingly impossible become very doable. His approach sounds a lot like that of Henry Ford, the great automaker who said, “I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can’t be done.”
Remember what Moses learned about delegation?
A good leader does not do those things that can readily be assigned to others. Rather, he will delegate—and in doing so, he will raise up new leaders.
J.C. Penney, the founder of one of the largest department store chains in America—who was also a devout and outspoken Christian—was once quoted as saying, “One of the qualities I would look for in an executive is whether he knows how to delegate properly. The inability to do this is, in my opinion (and in that of others I have talked with on this subject), one of the chief reasons executives fail.”
Here’s an easy way to remember how Nehemiah shared the workload with others, using an acrostic:
- Determine the task.
- Examine the duties. Evaluate each task and determine what abilities, training, and gifts are needed.
- Leadership must be selected. Select the person with the greatest match of abilities, training, experience, and gifts needed to complete the task or be the point man who can ensure that others compete the project.
- Educate your leaders.
- Guide the leaders.
- Authorize the leaders. Give them the authority and resources needed to successfully complete the work.
- Trust the leaders. Encourage independence. Don’t take back control.
- Evaluate the progress. You know your desired outcomes.
The leader who creates, delegates, and moves on to still more creative activity will find himself or herself leading the pack. And the inability to delegate has been proven again and again to be the most common reason for leadership failure.
(8) ENCOURAGEMENT…SUPPORTS YOUR LEADERSHIP
Our adversaries said, “They will neither know nor see anything, till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease” (Nehemiah 4:11).
Discouragement is one of the greatest enemies of progress. It has kept even some of the greatest of projects from being completed. Discouragement has deadened the resolve of even the strongest of leaders and their people.
Nehemiah turned the peoples’ long and deep-seated discouragement into excitement. And more important, he turned it into hope. He initially infused them with optimism regarding God’s provision. Nehemiah could see the people becoming discouraged, so he took decisive action. First, he did what he had always done in the past when a crisis was brewing—he prayed!
Satisfied that he had first consulted with God about the problem, Nehemiah took strategic action. This is how a leader keeps things in proper balance. To pray and do nothing more presumes on God. To take action without prayer indicates a lack of faith. Nehemiah prayed and acted, finding the perfect balance. Nehemiah took further action by involving the people in their own self-preservation.
Commenting on Nehemiah’s actions, one writer says, “Knowing how to diagnose a decline in morale and being able effectively to encourage and motivate our co-workers whether in a large corporation or in a church, in a hospital or on the mission field is one of the important factors in successful leadership.”
A wise leader recognizes his own limitations and tendencies and allows others to help him shore up these areas. Take the Bible’s advice: “Encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today,’ so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13).
(9) PROBLEM-SOLVING…REFINES YOUR LEADERSHIP
After serious thought, I rebuked the nobles and rulers, and said to them, “Each of you is exacting usury from his brother” (Nehemiah 5:7).
Nehemiah defined the problem he faced carefully (verses 1-5). But first, Nehemiah had to stop and listen to the complaints of the people. His priorities were people first, project second.
Nehemiah then dealt with the problem frankly (verses 6-7). Some leaders are pros at avoiding an issue. They excuse it. They ignore it. They redefine it. They delegate it. They do everything they can think to avoid facing a problem, hoping it will go away.
Nehemiah discussed the problem fully (verses 6-10), evaluating it in the light of God’s Word. Then he called a great gathering to discuss the matter with all the people.
Finally, Nehemiah solved the problem successfully (verses 11-13) and set a good example for everyone by committing that he himself would make loans without exacting usury. Good leadership starts at the top. You cannot ask others to do something you’re not willing to do.
Like Nehemiah, you will face many problems. They can’t be avoided, and most can’t be delegated. As Nehemiah did, start with prayer, asking God for His wisdom. Then turn to your associates for their insights, ideas, experience, and wisdom. Take your time as you thoroughly evaluate your options.
(10) CONFLICT MANAGEMENT…GIVES RESOLVE TO YOUR LEADERSHIP
“It is reported…the Jews plan to rebel…that you may be their king”…For they all were trying to make us afraid, saying, “Their hands will be weakened in the work…” Now, therefore, O God, strengthen my hands (Nehemiah 6:6,9).
Let’s face it—as long as there is sin in the world, conflict will be a fact of life. Conflicts and their resultant wars have been a noted fact since the beginning of recorded history.
Enemies pressed their conflict by opposing Nehemiah on six occasions, using six different means of attempting to stop the work on the wall.
- Ridicule: Sanballat, with his Samarian army, allied himself with Tobiah, the Ammonite. From a position of strength, they mocked Nehemiah’s efforts on two separate occasions (2:19; 4:1-3).
- Open threats: Nehemiah’s enemies—who were also enemies of God—had darker plans than merely sitting back and mocking and ridiculing the Jewish people’s attempts to rebuilt the wall. As the building progressed, they intensified their opposition by threatening a military attack (4:7-23).
- Diversion: “Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, ‘Come, let us meet together among the villages in the plain of Ono’ ” (6:2). One of the most effective military strategies is diversion or misdirection. Note what he says—that his enemies “sent me this message four times, and I answered them in the same manner” (verse 4). When the enemies persisted, so did Nehemiah.
- Slander: Having again failed to achieve their purpose, Sanballat and his coconspirators tried a new strategy—slander. They sent an open letter to the public, a letter of proclamation, in which they charged Nehemiah with treason: “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem says, that you [Nehemiah] and the Jews plan to rebel…that you may be their king” (6:6).
- Treachery: You could also call this type of opposition “false counsel or bad advice.” When the open letter failed to stop the work, Nehemiah’s enemies try yet another tactic—intimidation from within. They hired a false prophet (verse 12) to lure Nehemiah to the temple for protection because of all the threats on his life and reputation (verse 10).
- Subversion: No sooner did Nehemiah begin to rejoice than he heard reports that “the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah and the letters of Tobiah came to them. For many in Judah were pledged to him, because he was the son-in-law of” the high priest (verses 17-18). Behind Nehemiah’s back, letters were being sent and oaths were being made. His movements were being tracked and reported to the enemy. In other words, a subversive element was in his midst!
You are never going to please everyone. The only One you must please is the Lord. Character, confidence, and courage are the three legs that will support your ability to manage conflict.
(11) VISION…GIVES DIRECTION TO YOUR LEADERSHIP
I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it (Nehemiah 2:5).
Leaders who have myopic vision never look beyond their present, most pressing problem. That was not the case with Nehemiah. He had bigger plans than just the rebuilding of the wall.
In The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make, Hans Finzel presents “a failure to focus on the future” as his #10 mistake leaders make. He states, “If leadership is about the future, then the worst thing a leader can do is fear the future.” He continues, “Our present methods are already obsolete, so we constantly refine, improve, listen, and learn. Others may fear, but he or she who leads must boldly face the future.”
Good leaders plan for the future. They foresee that something special or better is out there.
Here are some key features that a vision—or desired outcome—must possess:
- Felt deeply. The more strongly a visionary believes in a cause, mission, or dream, the more likely he will be able to excite and involve others.
- A vision, if left unacted upon, is only a dream.
- A visionary must stir emotion in his listeners and inspire enthusiasm, belief, and commitment.
- A good leader must challenge people to surpass themselves, to stretch and reach, to see the noble nature of each project or idea.
- If the visionary is successful and has clearly set a direction and purpose for his followers, he will generate loyalty and unity through the mutual involvement of his listeners.
Every strong leader has a passion for something. What are you passionate about? What is your driving force? What keeps you going when things get difficult?
(12) RENEWAL…REFRESHES YOUR LEADERSHIP
So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly…Then he read from it…from morning until midday (Nehemiah 8:2-3).
Burnout is a term that’s used to describe what happens when a leader’s physical, mental, or spiritual gas tank hits empty. When that happens, he is likely to lose his momentum, direction, and energy. Renewal is the answer—refilling the physical, mental, and spiritual gas tank, or recharging one’s batteries. Remember that God Himself took one day a week for renewal and commanded that we do the same.
Fatigue defeats productivity and success. Leaders must realize that renewal is vital to effective and successful leadership. Renewal is also an opportunity to reinvent yourself.
How can you fan the flames of renewal in your life? Follow the example of Nehemiah and the people of his day, and look to God’s Word to refresh and renew you.
(13) LOYALTY…AFFIRMS YOUR LEADERSHIP
During all this I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king (Nehemiah 13:6).
You can be loyal to God because… You can trust in God’s character—What God promises, He will fulfill and provide. He is “God, who cannot lie” (Titus 1:2).
A leader who wants to inspire others to follow after God’s own heart must first desire to fully follow God’s heart himself. He must first be loyal to his God. And prayer is a primary way to show that loyalty. A leader who doesn’t pray is actually declaring his loyalty to his own wisdom.
How is loyalty to God demonstrated? In one word: obedience.
Loyalty is based on trust. If you are erratic or irrational in your decisions and actions, people won’t be able to trust you as a leader. Consistency is vital. Be decisive. As Matthew 5:37 says, “Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ ” Indecision is worse than no decision—or even the wrong decision.
Nehemiah was just a civil servant. He was not a Spartan king. He was not a military general. But he accomplished what no other person had been able to do. Even after 90 years had passed and thousands of Jews had returned to Judah, the wall around Jerusalem was still in ruins. Nehemiah consistently showed a servant’s heart. He put others first. He showed a concern for the welfare of others (2:10).
(14) INTEGRITY…VALIDATES YOUR LEADERSHIP
From the time that I was appointed to be their governor…twelve years, neither I nor my brothers ate the governor’s provisions…I did not demand the governor’s provisions, because the bondage was heavy on this people (Nehemiah 5:14,18).
For their classic work The Leadership Challenge, researchers Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner identified three characteristics that were most desired in a leader. Integrity was at the top of the list, followed by competence and leadership.
People with integrity are truthful, trustworthy, and show conviction. People who display integrity will choose honesty over deceit, fairness over injustice, and a willingness to abide by rules and regulations even when those rules are disregarded by others around them.
One of the occupational hazards of leadership is pride, especially if you are doing a good job of leading and others are noticing your work and are appreciative of it. Pride is selfish, while integrity is selfless.
Nehemiah spent his entire life in public service, so he had seen the abuse of power and how it oppresses. Because of his reverence for God, he determined to be sensitive to the needs of others.
Governor Nehemiah and his men could have lorded their authority over the people. At the very least, they could have “supervised.” Instead, Nehemiah and his associates served and worked on the wall alongside the citizens. Wherever a servant is, he is there to serve—not to line his own pockets at the expense of the people.
For Nehemiah, integrity was a heart issue. And that’s the secret of integrity—it’s an inside job! Integrity is a matter of the heart: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good” (Luke 6:45).
(15) PURITY…BLESSES YOUR LEADERSHIP
Remember me, O my God, for good! (Nehemiah 13:31).
God says that His leader—whether of few or a multitude—must be obedient. That person must be one “who will do all My will” (Acts 13:22). God’s leader is submissive to God’s leading. He desires to do what God asks of him. And what does God ask of His leaders? He asks them—and you—to follow His standard for purity.
God often had to remind all the people, including Moses and the leaders, that “I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44). God’s standard back then was holiness, and that’s true for today as well. Nehemiah set the standard, and he expected everyone to adhere to it, especially his coleaders.
In the Bible, this essential leadership trait is described as being “blameless” (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:6) or “above reproach”. In other words, the life of God’s man is an open book. A leader who is pure is a leader who is blessed and blesses others.
Because Nehemiah had sought to live a life of purity, he had earned the right to deal forcefully with the widespread impurity he observed in Jerusalem.
Leader, you should pray Nehemiah’s heart-prayer today: “Remember me, O my God, for good!” The true spiritual leader is concerned infinitely more with the service he can render God and his fellow-men than with the benefits and pleasures he can extract from life. He aims to put more into life than he takes out of it.
Over the years, I’ve watched Jennifer demonstrate each of these strengths of leadership—from her volleyball coaching days, to her days as a mom, and most recently as President of our elementary’s Parent-Teacher Association. Because she is truly a “Leader After God’s Own Heart,” he has greatly blessed her in all of her efforts!
Happy Birthday, Jennifer Leigh!