Nehemiah: Examples of Godly Leadership

Well, if you're listening to the radio, watching television, talking to your neighbors or others, I think we are all very aware that we are in the midst of another political season. The midterm elections are less than two weeks away, a little bit more than one week. Where this nation will again select state and national leaders, and our state of Michigan, we've got the governor's spot that is being contested, as well as a lot of other offices. We drive around, we see the signs along the side of the road. At one point, driving to school last week, we were shocked that you come up to an intersection, and for about probably 200 feet, there were more political signs than we could count.

Big ones, little ones, all kinds of colors, lots of money, of course, is being spent. Millions of dollars are actually being spent to encourage the voters to pick the next best leader for our country. Listening to the radio, I heard that former President Barack Obama was in the state of Michigan, actually in Detroit, I believe either yesterday or late this week.

This coming week, we have the Vice President Mike Pence will be in the state of Michigan, each clamoring and trying to offer support for who they believe will be this next best leader for our state and for our country.

So it's at this time like this that many in society pause and consider, what is a leader? What characteristics, some ask, do I want my next leader to possess? As a nation of Israel was being established, the work of leading this nation quickly became apparent. Moses himself was unable to handle all of the different problems and challenges that quickly appeared, working through all the questions, the problems, the disputes quickly overwhelmed Moses.

He needed help. He needed to appoint additional leaders, and in this passage in Exodus 18, in verse 13, we'll see the criteria that was given to choose leaders from among the nation. This is in Exodus 18, in verse 13. I understand Mr. Shaffer spoke on leadership last week.

I was unaware of that when I was putting the sermon together and shared it with Ann Arbor. But in talking with him this week, we went different directions with it. He totally supported me sharing this message back-to-back. Often, this is the first time I think it's ever happened with Mr. Shaffer and I, where we actually were on a similar train of thought back-to-back. So maybe this is something, well, I know it's inspired from God, but maybe God had more in mind for some reason, and we'll see in the future.

In Exodus 18, verse 13, we have here one of the passages that helps define the leadership traits that men of God and its leaders should have. Here in Exodus 18, verse 13, Why do you alone sit and all the people stand before you from morning until evening? And Moses said to his father-in-law, Because the people come to me to inquire of God, and when they have difficulty they come to me. And I judge between one and another, and I make known the statutes of God and his laws. So Moses, his father-in-law, said to him, The thing that you do is not good.

Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out, for this thing is too much for you. You are not able to perform it by yourself. Listen now to my voice, I will give you counsel, and God will be with you. Stand before God for all the people, so that you may bring the difficulties to God, and you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do.

Moreover, you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetous, and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of ten. In today's message, we'll look at a few godly leadership principles from the book of Nehemiah.

We'll consider Nehemiah's example, and how we can become better leaders in our families and within the church. As we just read, for one to be an effective leader, this person must be one who, at the core of who he or she is, properly fears God. We heard that in the sermonette, that the king, the next king of Israel, was required to write out the law, as a way to understand not only God's word, but to learn how to fear him, how to revere, how to honor God in all he did.

And so, there is a responsibility for leadership to learn how to properly fear God. This must be one who respects the teaching and direction that God's word provides. One who uses God's word on himself or herself to shape and mold who they are as a person. And as we just read, one who is truthful and one who does not covet, this firm foundation sets the stage of what a true leader will become.

Paul addresses leadership principles in Philippians 2 and verse 1. It might not be a passage that we often think of as an example of leadership, but I believe it is. In Philippians 2 and verse 1, actually, in just studying this topic, and we'll get into some of these things, we're only going to be able to scratch the surface on Godly leadership.

Just like Mr. Shafer gave a sermon last week. I'm giving a different one. This week goes different directions. Still covers the principles, but in a different way. I believe God's whole word is a leadership book, because you've got to remember what he's called us to become to develop into, to change, to sacrifice ourselves, to be willing to give of ourselves, to serve and love.

This theme of transformation and serving one another is throughout his entire word that we have in front of us. And so I believe it's a leadership book that we have here as well. The good, the bad stories, and everything. And here in Philippians 2 and verse 1, Paul outlines, without saying these are leadership principles, but it gets down to the crux of what leadership is. Here in Philippians 2 and verse 1, Paul says, Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, he's saying, if you've been able to benefit from this knowledge of God's way, if it has changed you to make you a better person and you're able to reap that, going through that, if there's any comfort of love among the brethren, if there's any fellowship, this togetherness of the Spirit, he goes on and says, this is what you are to do.

If you are a part of the body of Christ and if you've benefited from this, this is what you are to therefore do. He says, to fulfill verse 2, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind, let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

We know that Christ performed the ultimate sacrifice, the ultimate service, of giving his own life for you and me, that we could have that relationship with God, that we could grow in grace and knowledge through our Savior, because he did everything that Paul outlined prior to that. He wasn't selfish, wanting to hold on to things, wanting to hold on to his position. He wasn't selfish in saying, serve me, because I'm the Son of God. We don't see that in how he served. He actually came to serve others, not to be served himself.

So, therefore, Paul is going through this outline, these guiding principles that show that deep level of service and sacrifice a leader must be willing to display. And this must be done from the heart. And as we now dive into the book of Nehemiah, we'll see examples of Nehemiah. We'll see examples of his leadership as we relate through this account.

So, you can go ahead and turn there to Nehemiah 1, and we'll pick up the story right at the very beginning, Nehemiah 1 and verse 1.

Nehemiah 1 and verse 1, starting right at the very beginning. The words of Nehemiah, the son of Hachaliah.

It came to pass in the month of Kislev in the 20th year, as I was in Shushan, the citadel, that Hainani, one of my brethren, came to me from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, the survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.

So it was when I heard these words that I sat down and wept and mourned for many days. I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. Nehemiah was touched to his heart. This is somebody who had never himself seen the city of Jerusalem, but he knew his roots.

He knew the stories. He knew what it symbolized to God. And he knew that a couple of other groups had already gone back to reestablish. The temple had been rebuilt from its destructive state before. And he knew that these things were going on, even though he himself had never seen it. This idea of these walls burned and broken down and the inhabitants not really having a secure home to live in, as if you or I found out about our kids or our family members, that the walls of their house were falling in or something.

It would hurt our hearts, too. And so walls around a city meant quite a lot to this nation and to the society at this time. It doesn't mean as much to us. We don't live in a society with walls. But in Nehemiah's time, walls would be as critical as our need for drinking water or for electricity.

They were that important at that time. They were critical for a city and for its inhabitants. Walls were assigned to others around them and to themselves, their own nation, that things were okay.

That this was a prosperous time. That they were in a safe spot. And that the city together was strong. And, of course, walls are always a deterrent against raids and foreign nations. Again, as we'll get to in a second, notice that when Nehemiah was made aware of this, this was in the month of Kislev, which for us would be in the fall time, November, December time range.

Kind of almost where we are at right now. Keep that in mind because we're going to see something pop out here in a little bit. So we know that Nehemiah took time. It says he was mourning for days and he was fasting and praying. He was moved in his heart because of the hurt and because of what had happened, what had become of the city of God going on. We now see over these multiple days, he, of course, fasted and prayed multiple times.

But we have recorded in verse 5 one of his prayers that he gave. And it says, And I said, I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, you who keep your covenant and mercy with those who love you and observe your commandments, please let your ears be attentive and your eyes open, that you may hear the prayer of your servant, which I pray before you now day and night for the children of Israel, your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against you, both my father's house and I have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which you commanded your servant Moses.

Remember, I pray, the words that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations. He's remembering that this is what happened. This is what happened to his own people when he was not even born yet. He realized this goes back to all the nations of Israel and Judah forsaking God, following after foreign gods of bad rulers, bad kings that had been there, bad leadership that had gone contrary. He's saying, You said this would happen, and it has.

He's reminding God that he knows his word, but also God is not one to be mocked. But he goes on and says in verse 9, But if you return, because this is also what God said, But if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out into the furthest part of heavens, yet I will gather them from there and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for my name.

Now these are your servants and your people whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. 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, and this is key as well, to fear your name. Again, tying in the sermonette and also, as we read from when Moses appointed leaders, that they were to be able to fear God, and he says here, who desire to fear your name and let your servant prosper this day, I pray and grant him mercy.

And he's speaking of himself and grant him mercy in the sight of this man, for I was the king's cupbearer. So Nehemiah had a position of, unlike most others in a kingdom, he had the trust of the king of Persia and that he was able to serve him, and most likely was a wealthy man because of that. As we reviewed first, the proper fear and reverence for God is the solid foundation of a leader.

And as any God-fearing person would do, we should go to God ourselves in prayer and meditation when we are tasked with a leadership responsibility. It's not a light or easy matter to lead people effectively, and Nehemiah took not only his concern to God, but then he also sought God's blessing and direction on what to do next. Godly leadership centers around a prayerful relationship with God, first and foremost. A Godly leader has his priorities, or her priorities, straight.

They know who's number one in their life, and they make sure that person, which is God, remains number one. We each have been tasked at times with challenges in situations that were beyond what we thought we could do.

And when we've been tasked with those, we often will go to God. If we go to God, that's what sets the stage for success. And I know I've had to do that time and time again. I have ideas in my mind of how I'd like to solve something, how I think it would work well, but then I want to draw God into it as well, because he knows how to handle the challenges that sit in front of us. He knows how this situation will work best. And so we have to go to God if we have a tight relationship with him when we're in these positions, because that is what is expected when we put him first. I believe Nehemiah felt the same way. He took days in prayer and fasting with God, and during this time, I'm sure ideas were popping up because his heart was sensitive. His heart was being moved for Jerusalem and the state that it was in. And so, as if you or I were in his shoes, we'd be probably formulating ways that we could maybe help, seeing what we are moved to do ourselves. And I believe this is what was going on in his mind as he prayed to God. He was probably coming up with some ideas. Maybe I could do this. Maybe I could help in this way. But he was involving God and letting God lead the direction. We do have a physical part to play often in life when we are leading our families, when we're leading those at work, when we're being a leader within our communities. We do have parts that we have to do physically. But we know that we can attest to the times, and we've brought God into that. We've opened our hearts and our minds so that God worked with us in those instances. How much better our decisions were. How much more fluid things worked when we've involved God into those situations and allowed him to lead the direction we go.

We see, picking up the story in chapter 2, how this all begins to work out for Nehemiah. The key here, though, is between chapter 1 and chapter 2, about six months has transpired. An actual large amount of time, which if you just read through the passage you'd miss, and it took me to see the dates. One of the commentaries pointed this out for me to even pick up on it.

But it says in verse 1, It came to pass in the month of Nisan. So we know that's about where the spring-holy days fall. So we know the first month that this whole story was relayed to him was about November-December timeline.

So now we're looking at March or April timeframe. It came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Adaxerxes, when wine was before him that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now, I'd never been sad in his presence before. Therefore the king said to me, Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart. And it says, So I became dreadfully afraid.

So why was he sorrow? We don't know. It's not described. But I think there is some correlation to the timing. Imagine that knowing that Passover, whether it had happened or was about to happen, the holy days, the spring-holy days that you and I, we don't forget and we don't miss when it's that time of the year, thinking about the holy city maybe came back to his mind of Jerusalem again.

And it probably brought sorrow that in these six months, that nothing had changed. The report would probably still be the same. Walls broken down, burnt, inhabitants scattered, scared to live in this city. And so it's probably as he's...it's just speculation. But that's most likely why, at this time, he's sorrowful. Because it says, the king even acknowledged, he says, I've never seen...never been sad in his presence before.

And so why this six months or so later, five or six months later? And then the key...or another thing to draw out is it says, So I became dreadfully afraid. And then he said to the king, May the king live forever, why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my father's tomb, lies waste, and his gates are burned with fire? Then the king said to me, What do you request? And so I prayed to the God of heaven. A quick prayer. We've all probably had those moments where something's happening, we're in the midst of something, we need answers as far as maybe how to handle the situation.

Something to say to someone. I've prayed those quick little prayers, sometimes walking along a path, just someplace before I go into a building or something. Just, God, help me. Give me clarity of mind. Give me the thoughts I need to help this to go well. And that's what he did here. So I prayed to the God of heaven, and I said to the king, If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my father's tomb, that I may rebuild it. Then the king said to me, and the queen also sitting beside him, How long will your journey be, and when will you return?

So it pleased the king to send me, and I set him a time. Furthermore, I said to the king, If it pleases the king, What letters be given to me for the governors of the region beyond the river, That they may permit me to pass through till I come to Judah?

And a letter to Asap, the keeper of the king's force, That he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel, Which pertain to the temple, for the city wall, And for the house that I will occupy. And the king granted them to me, according to the good hand of my God upon me. So right here, Nehemiah also recognized that God's favor was before him. Many times we've done things in life where we realize that things worked out in a positive way for us, That we could not have done ourselves. Even if we thought it, even if we were in charge, it could not have worked out that way.

Like maybe if you ever went to the BMV, and that line is way out the door, And you've got other appointments that you've got to get to, and you were not expecting that. But then before you can think, suddenly something happens, where you're zig-zagging through the line, You're all the way up front, and you're through in record time, which never, ever happens.

That's God's favor in those moments, when those types of things that are beyond our control, Beyond any way that we could manipulate it, they happen. And Nehemiah here is grant is giving the acknowledgement to where it goes to, and that's to God, Because six months later, this time, he didn't mean to be upset, Because he said he was actually dreadfully afraid, because somebody in his position wasn't to come to the king in a sad, dragged-out, or dragged-down state, Because the king wanted happy people around him, and often, well, I don't know how often, but at times, if they weren't, their life could be in danger.

Because this is the expectation that a servant of the king would have. And so he became dreadfully afraid, because he suddenly realized that the way that he carried himself out of sadness, could cost him his life.

But then he saw that how, that instance, this many months later, God had set up so that the timing was perfect. And then we see that where he says that God, that the good hand of my God was upon me.

We have here in this section a powerful account of someone going to God, asking for his help and his guidance, but unaware himself how it would work out.

And then, of course, God's favor again being before him. And because he had the proper fear and the proper reverence for God, that he allowed God allowed King Artaxerxes to respond to Nehemiah's request. Since we laid the foundation that Godly leaders must each have a personal relationship with God and strive to live a life reflective of that proper fear and respect for God's word, now let's look at some specific traits that Godly leaders should possess. And we'll continue through the book of Nehemiah as we look into this. So for the first Godly trait, Godly leaders are influencers. Godly leaders are influencers. As we have seen in our own lives, people can be an influencer in either a positive or a negative way. Influencers lead people to something. Could be good or could be bad. We know Paul said to those in Corinth, imitate me just as I also imitate Christ. Imitate. Reflect what I do as I also imitate Christ. A Scottish philosopher, Thomas Carlyle, received a letter from a young man who wrote, Mr. Carlyle, I wish to be a teacher. Will you tell me the secret of successful teaching?

Carlyle wrote to him, Be what you want your pupils to be, all other teaching is unblest mockery.

Be what you want your pupils to be. He's telling him, if you want somebody to do something, do it yourself, because then they will emulate you. They will imitate you. They will be like you, especially if you're in a position to teach.

A position to lead is what he's saying. Anything else that you say or anything else that you teach is unblest mockery. It's not going to get the fruit that you want it to, because it just doesn't work. We all know the impact of good and motivating influence can have in our lives. Nehemiah was one such influencer. Looking and continuing on in Nehemiah 2, verse 11, Nehemiah says, So I came to Jerusalem, so this is after he got the permission from the king, he had journeyed there. Some say it took probably three months to do his journey or so to get there. So I came to Jerusalem and was there for three days. Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me, and I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem. Nor was there any animal with me except for the one which I rode. We'll skip through the passage a little bit, but he went around the entire city, the walls, and he was examining it, trying to figure out what tasks were ahead of him. It's one thing to be told. You've got this huge project. The walls are burned and torn down, and you're conjuring up ideas of how you're going to do it. It's another thing, then, to see it with your own eyes. The men in construction are things you know sometimes are mechanics. Sometimes you're told that this is the state of something, but then when you get there, you really see with your own eyes. You're like, okay, this is a completely different ballgame than what I thought. So he decided to go around the city himself at night with no one knowing really what he was doing in order to understand before he just stood up in front of everybody and said, we're going to rebuild these walls. Then it turns out not to be capable or the timing or the way that he goes about it, not to be good. So he goes around and inspects the entire walls in verse 16. And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done. I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the others who did the work. Then I said to them, you see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste. And now we start to see his influence over the people. And its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach.

And I told them of the hand of my God. So he's accounting the story back with the king. He's accounting how he was moved and touched his heart, that he was praying fast. He's retelling this to all these people to try to help influence and inspire them. And he says, and 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. And so they said, these are the people we're speaking to in response, let us rise up and build. Then they set their hands to this good work. Nehemiah was able to do his due diligence by inspecting the project firsthand that was before him. And he was, like I said, prudent not to share the details with everybody until he himself had a full understanding of the scope of the project and what laid before him. At that point, though, he began sharing his plan. He began influencing those around him to start to want to get in, want to dive in and support the work that was ahead of them all. Through his pre-work and through his vision, he was able to influence others to see the end result and to buy into his plan of a rebuilt Jerusalem. For us today, how well do we do in helping others see the vision that we have for something we are leading them in? Do we inspire them? Or do we just lay down the law of what they are supposed to do? This is a task. Do it. No questions asked. Stop bothering me. Or do we actually talk to them? Do we actually help them to see the goal in mind? Now, as a parent, there are times you just lay down the law. This is what I've asked. Just do it. We don't always have to explain. But we've also seen as parents times where when we actually show the kids or show where we're going and why, and then they buy into the idea, and then we get their support behind it, and then it's much easier to even lead our own families in those instances. Do we paint a picture of the project and finished results so the people that we lead can see it in their own mind? Are we passionate for the task we are leading? If so, we will naturally influence others because we won't just be telling the people what to do. We'll be living the tasks and living the project in our own lives. This is the power of influence that you and I have. And that's why as a parent you tell your kids, stay away from the bad influences because they also influence, but we also can influence people in a wonderful and positive way. And so a godly leader does influence others. The second task that we'll draw from today is godly leaders are involved in the work themselves. Godly leaders are involved in the work themselves.

In chapter 3 of Nehemiah, we see an overview of many of those who worked to rebuild the walls and the gates around Jerusalem. We won't read through the whole chapter, but I do want to point out a few of those who did work, and also a few of them who did not work. It's interesting to see the two sides. In Nehemiah 3, verse 1, we see the high priest and other priests repaired the sheep gate. These were the priests and those who had priestly responsibilities. They did not think that they were above getting their hands dirty in the work that was before them. We also see in Nehemiah 3, verse 12, we see the daughters of Shelem, who helped with the difficult work of rebuilding the walls. Shelem was one of the leaders of Jerusalem, yet he and his daughters pitched in to help. I think it's great to see that women were involved in this as well, because often we think of society in different places. When we think of leadership, we don't think of the woman's leadership role within the house or in the business world, in other places. But we realize that God has enabled both sexes to be able to work hard and to inspire and to lead people, and to be involved in the work themselves. Here we see the daughters of Shelem, who were also involved in the work of rebuilding these walls. But yet, on the other hand, we have the leaders of the Tecoites, who would not pitch in to help out. This is in Nehemiah 3, verse 5. One translation says that these leaders were not fully dedicated to the work of Nehemiah. So we see some who are willing to pitch in and get their hands dirty, and we see others who, in this case, in verse 3 or 3, verse 5, that they were leaders who weren't getting behind Nehemiah. They were not going to be the ones lifting the stones and doing the hard lifting. Godly leaders do not believe that they are above doing any of the work themselves that they lead others in doing. This doesn't mean that everyone is just a worker, though. We do need leaders at times for certain projects.

But Godly leaders do not think too highly of themselves or that they are unwilling to do the work. If someone leads by words only, unwilling to get their hands dirty, this is noticed and felt by the rest of the members on the team. I know we can each think of examples where we've been tasked by our bosses to work really hard, maybe to take a project that was dirty, a project that we didn't enjoy, and then they themselves were unwilling to do. I've seen some where the bosses go off after giving the marching orders and they're joking and laughing with other managers, or maybe with employees that they favored, that they didn't ask to do the dirty job while leaving it to just a few people or people who felt like they were just being left out there, only then to follow up later and say, hey, don't you have this done yet? We've, I think, all experienced that. Or at times, we're those leaders that felt they were actually above doing the work themselves, that that was menial work. That's not for me. That's not for somebody who drives a car that I do or things like that. But we've seen those bosses, and maybe even the presidents of the company, that jump in and help fix a problem. They don't leave just all the employees there by themselves. And that's an important example, because when we've seen those examples, that leaves a very positive experience for the employees. One that realizes they're passionate about what we're doing here. They believe in the cause that we're working in. And then you can just see the contrast between those who are invested in the work themselves, and then those who aren't, and how it leaves that feeling with you on one way or the other. Go ahead, and we'll flip back. We'll look at Nehemiah 5 and verse 16, because it says that Nehemiah was this type of an example to those around him. He's speaking of himself, as it's recorded here, but he says, in Nehemiah 5 verse 16, Indeed, I also continued the work on this wall, and we did not buy any land, meaning I wasn't trying to do the work just so I could make a lot of money for myself, or gain favor with the people, so I could buy the choice property around the city. He's saying that he didn't even want to buy the land. That wasn't his motivation. He goes, and then continuing on verse 16, he says, All my servants were gathered there for the work as well. So not only was he doing it, those who served underneath him were serving. He expected the same from himself that he expected of those that were his servants. Godly leaders will hold themselves to the same level of work and be willing to pitch in when needed to get the overall project completed. They will not hold others to unfair standards that they themselves are unwilling to do, and godly leaders will lead best by what they do as well as what they say. The third godly trait that we can draw from the book here is, godly leaders rise above obstacles. Godly leaders rise above obstacles. Let's look back to Nehemiah 2 and verse 19.

Because even though God was behind this, God was leading this rebuilding project, and in my mind I would say, well, then it's got to go peaches and cream at that point, because if God's behind it, then there shouldn't be any challenges, there shouldn't be any problems. But even with God, as we know many times in our own lives, it doesn't just, because God's behind it, God's with us, doesn't necessarily remove the obstacles. In verse 19, the account says, But when Sanbalae, the Horonite, and Tobiah, the Ammonite, official, and Geshim, the Arab, heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us and hated them, and said, What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king? And so I answered them and said to them, The God of heaven himself will prosper us. Therefore we, his servants, will arise and build. But you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem. He's telling them, You're an outsider. This is not your city. You don't have any right to the property. You don't have heritage. You don't have roots here, but we do. And it says in verse, we'll go ahead and flip forward to Nehemiah 4 and verse 1.

Nehemiah 4 and verse 1, it says, But it so happened when Sanbalae heard that we were rebuilding the wall, that he was furious and very indignant, and mocked the Jews. And he spoke before his brethren in the armies of Samaria, and said, What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? This mocking that they were saying. Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish, stones that are burned? And then now here's one of his friends getting into the egg. Now, Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him and said, Whatever they build, even if a fox goes up on it, he will break it down their stone walls.

Imagine the ridicule. Here you are, not just Nehemiah, you're one of those heavy laborers. You're one of those who believe in this project. And yet, here's the mocking. Here's the cursing being directed your way, and also towards Nehemiah. It's easy for any of us to become fearful when an obstacle arrives. It's easy to just quit and to walk away from something. But it's during these times when we face obstacles that we can take a moment to pause. Pause is not a bad thing, especially when we feel the weight of the tasks before us. Pause in front of an obstacle is a perfectly acceptable thing to do. It gives us time to go to God in prayer, to say, God, okay, I know that you're behind this, or I'm very, very confident you are. Show me if you still want me to go forward at this time. Show me if there's a different avenue, a different direction I should take. It gives us that time to get re-insinct with God, because sometimes in life we get a project, we start moving on it, and it just starts running away with it. Maybe doing things kind of almost without thinking, thinking this is where we need to go. And when those obstacles hit, it gives us a time, which is an appropriate time, to pause, to reconsider, to kind of regroup. Okay, where are we at on this timeline? Where are we at with what is at hand? And we can re-evaluate. And in this instance here, Nehemiah paused and turned to God right away in the face of this mocking. We see this in verse 4, Nehemiah 4, verse 4. Here, O God, for we are displeased. Turn their approach on their own heads, and give them as plunder to a land of captivity. Do not cover their iniquity, and do not let their sins be blotted out from before you, for they have provoked you to anger before the builders. So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height for the people had a mind to work. Nehemiah drew close to God once again. We see time and time again through the entire book how many times Nehemiah goes to God in prayer, goes to God asking for his leadership and asking that he be their defender. We see this, and this is one of those instances. He wanted God to continue to lead the work that was at hand. When we decide not to depend on our own might alone, again, we have those physical things that we are to do. But when we don't just rely on us ourselves, but we instead draw near to God, a Godly leader will be able to better understand God's will for that task that is at hand. And this type of a leader will be able to understand God's will for a project with regard to the obstacle that is at hand. But again, this didn't stop others from trying to derail the entire project. Verse 7, In the end, we made our prayer to God, and because of them, we set a watch against them day and night. As I mentioned before, fear can override everything else in our lives and cause us just to quit. But God hasn't given us a spirit of fear. That's not the indwelling of his Holy Spirit in us that gives us a spirit of fear. Remember back to when Nehemiah was before the king, and since he was saddened by something the king did, and it said that Nehemiah became dreadfully afraid in that instance. Some accounts say, used the word terrified, that Nehemiah became terrified because of what had just happened with his presence in front of the king. What if that fear right at the very beginning caused Nehemiah to just quit?

All this that God had planted in his mind, God was opening doors, and all of a sudden he realizes, oh no, the door's opening, what am I going to do? And if he would have become dreadfully afraid at that instance and said, oh no, nothing's wrong, everything's great, he puts on that smile and then tries to just smooth everything over. Would the walls have been rebuilt by his hand? Maybe. Maybe not. God isn't limited by what you or I do, but because he did not allow fear, this obstacle of fear, to overtake him, God was able to continue to use him in this account and to work with him and allow those walls around that city to be rebuilt. Godly leaders recognize that at times, opposition will come. And as it did in the case of Nehemiah, it can come with threats or can come with ridicule. And so, the priority leaders will work through challenges and opposition that is, and to consider how best to continue moving forward with the project at hand. We should ask ourselves the question, this is a project worthy of continuing. Is it God's will that this project go forward? If so, then how do we rise above the obstacles in front of us? If we draw near to God in the face of adversity, he always will show the way. The fourth and last, just for this sermon, Godly trade of a leader. The Godly leader offers encouragement. The Godly leader offers encouragement. Here we see in Nehemiah 4 verse 10. Right after that account we just read through of the obstacle, what is Nehemiah's response? Then Judah said the strength of the laborers is failing and there is so much rubbish that we're not able to build the wall. There's problems. We've got too many bricks and too many stones that are in our way to try to build it. And our adversaries said they will neither know nor see anything till we come in their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease.

These threats will sneak up on you at night and you won't even know that we're there until you're all dead. Imagine looking out among the walls in this rubble and seeing just darkness and not knowing when these potential attacks will come. Verse 12, So it was when the Jews who dwelt near them came, they told us ten times, for whatever place you turn, they will be upon us.

As with many projects that we lead, there comes a time in the midst of the project that we become discouraged. The resources we are hoping would be available are taken away or were never available in the first place. The people we thought would work hard and complete the task end up doing neither. At times, we feel like as a group, we are spinning our wheels in the mud, not accomplishing anything.

Discouragement can sneak in and take hold of our minds and begin to drag us down and make the work that we are trying to do feel hopeless. It's in these times that a godly leader will lean on God for the support and encouragement that not only they themselves need as a leader, but the people that they're leading that task in also need. They will ask God for his support, for his strength. They will look for ways to overcome the discouragement and to rally the troops.

We all need encouragement at times, and people who know us will encourage them in the face of adversity or discouragement. These people want to work with us. They want to allow us to influence them, because they all recognize it themselves at a time this discouragement comes. So if you can become a leader who encourages those around you, that's a powerful influence that you can have on others.

Nehemiah recognized the need to encourage the workers, and we see this in verse 13. Nehemiah 4, verse 13. Therefore, I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall at the openings, and I set the people according to their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And I looked and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, Do not be afraid of them.

Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses. And so, and it happened when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing. Notice again, giving God the glory and the credit for bringing their threats, their accusations, their potential attacks to nothing. It says that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work. So it was from that time on that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held their spears, the shields, and the bows, and wore armor. And the leaders were behind all of the house of Judah. Those who built on the wall and those who carried burdens loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and the other held a weapon. Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built, and the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me. Then I said to the nobles, the rulers, and the rest of the people, the work is great and extensive, and we are separated far from one another on the wall. So the city, big wall, lots of them around, and they couldn't always know, is everything safe on the other side? And sometimes they'd get nervous about that. But Nehemiah positioned someone with the trumpet that we'll see here in verse 20. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there, our God will fight for us. Not that we have to do all this ourselves, or we'll show them our might behind of our own strength, but he says, again, giving God the glory, our God will fight for us. Because Nehemiah knew that God was behind this project. So we labored, it says in verse 21, in the work, and half of the men held their spears from daybreak until the stars appeared. And at the same time, I also said to the people that each man and his servant stay at night in Jerusalem, that they may be our guard by night and a working party by day. So neither I nor my brethren nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me took off our clothes, except that everyone took them off for washing. A Godly leader will be able to evaluate the tasks at hand and the mood of those that are tasked with completing the work. They'll look over the situation as Nehemiah did and figure out what needs to be said or done to motivate them to continue moving forward. Nehemiah reminded the workers of their calling, their goals, and of course God's protection. Nehemiah brought their mind back to the purpose for which they were working. He reminded them of God's purpose in their work.

Again, we do each of us suffer from depression and discouragement and getting down at times, but we each have a responsibility to ourselves work through that discouragement and to continue encouraging those that we are leading. Bringing this closer to home for a minute, there are times within our own families, as moms and as dads, that we have discouragement in our midst as a family.

As a husband and wives, as moms and dads, as leaders within this family, we must look for ways to encourage the discouraged spouse or encourage the discouraged children. We must pause and evaluate the project at hand. There are times where, in our own lives, we each can account for that. Things that we're trying to do with our lives. A change on the house, maybe buying a new house, maybe changing jobs and the stresses that come with it. Sometimes things get imbalanced in our own families and our own lives. When we pause and evaluate the situation and recognize, you know what? We're not cruising on all eight cylinders, firing the way they should. Something's off. You take that moment to evaluate that people are discouraged or they're down about something and say, okay, what do we need to do differently as a family unit? Because we don't want this to be going forward in this dysfunctional way or this discouraging way or this way that's not happy for us. It's those moments within our own family that we can pause, that we can draw back to God. We can ask God to show us a clear path within our own family units because it hits us at home sometimes as well. This isn't just, oh, my boss is a leader and I just follow and do whatever they want as the leaders within our own families. As the leaders within our congregation, these things hit at times and we need that source of encouragement to come back into our lives. Ultimately, we know God is that source of encouragement, but He uses us, one another, as brothers and sisters to encourage and to support one another. This will rally the troops, per se. This will get us all back on track. And then, as we read in the case of Nehemiah, the work goes on. More opposition was faced by Nehemiah than we have time to look at today. It's an amazing account of those who were rebuilding the walls, San Ballet and Tobiah. They came back and they came back with other threats. Eventually, internally, there was also this lack of support from Nehemiah's own people of God that should have been behind the work. At times, they weren't behind it either. But Nehemiah refused to give in to fear and intimidation. He knew that he was a target for other people's attacks because he knew if they got to him, imagine if he was struck down or imagine if he became scared and ran off or whatever. He knew that that target on his back was bigger because of the influence that he had over these people. He knew that himself. So he continually went to God asking for God's intervention, asking for God's support, asking for God to continue blessing the project that was at hand. Nehemiah overcame personal attacks and completed the rebuilding of the walls in record time. We see this in chapter 6 in verse 15.

At times, I wish that we had a lot more detail because when you read through this account of Nehemiah, it's to me like an action-adventure comic book with the colors in there and the pals and different things. It's an exciting story of a vision, of faith in God, of seeing these things go and then seeing it not go the way that it wanted to. I wish that we had recorded in this account, because I like documentaries of building projects. When we went up to the UP this summer, before crossing over the Mackinac Bridge, I actually downloaded a documentary that I could watch just to see this bridge and the building that went into it, the materials and how long it took and how they did it. It's a neat thing to see. I wish we had a documentary on the rebuilding of these walls, because we'll see that it was done in 52 days. What can ever get done in this world in 52 days anymore, especially a building project? Now, granted, we have a lot of red tape that God cut through for them there. But it's an amazing account, but we don't have all the details. I wish we did. Maybe someday we'll get to know more. But here in verse 15, Nehemiah 6 verse 15, it says, So the wall was finished on the 25th day of Eloh, so this is about August or September, in 52 days. This wall was finished in 52 days, and it happened when all of our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes. For they perceived that this work was done by our God. What a powerful testimony that Nehemiah has captured here, that those who were against the project, those who were trying to undermine all the work that was being done, even afterwards, recognized that there's only one way that this could happen, and that's if it's done by God, if God is behind it. They said it couldn't be done. The job was too big, the building materials not of quality, and the problems were too many. But God's people, joined together in unity, can solve large problems and accomplish great deeds. With God, all things are possible. Nehemiah kept his focus on God's will and God's assistance. He kept alive the vision that he had in Persia, and that he maintained the reality of the project when he saw it in person in Jerusalem. And God was there assisting every step of the way. As we wrap up today, I recognize there's many characteristics or traits of a Godly leader that we didn't cover in this message. God has called us to his family because we have work to do. And like I said at the beginning, I believe God's Word is a book of leadership. It's a book of transforming ourselves and putting others first in our lives. It's a book of giving of ourselves, of sacrificing, of letting God's love work through us to better serve one another. We are each working on our own lives and working out our own salvation with fear and trembling. We are each working on yielding our lives more and more to God so we can become a better tool in his hand. And as we consider the importance of leadership today, for you and I, every one of us here, these qualities that we went through apply. There's passage after passage through God's Word of speaking to us to become a better person and, in turn, a better leader. Let us continue to study God's Word and to seek out and find these leadership traits, not just that these four are the end, but there's a lot more. And then let's apply these traits to our lives so that we each may become a better, godly leader, like Nehemiah.