Friday
Friday
Nehemiah’s Perseverance
All the surrounding nations … realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.
Nehemiah 6:16
The fifth lesson to be learned from Nehemiah is that a Christian leader attracts a following. Indeed, the very word leader implies this. The leader takes the initiative, but he persuades others to join him. Of course, some leaders in history have been strong individualists. The authentic leader, however, inspires people to follow his lead, for he sees his task as a cooperative enterprise. Chapter 2 of Nehemiah’s book seems to chart his conversion from individualism to collective action, from verse 5 (“Let him [the king] send me to the city … so that I can rebuild it”) to verses 17–18 (“Then I said to them, … ‘Come, let us rebuild’”).
Sixthly, the Christian leader refuses to be discouraged. Once a work of God begins, opposition can be expected. The forces of reaction muster, and hostility comes out into the open. Indeed, discouragement is the chief occupational hazard of a leader. In the case of Nehemiah, virulent antagonism was mounted by Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arab. First they mocked and ridiculed Nehemiah, and then they misrepresented him, suggesting that he was rebelling against the Persian régime. Derision and slander are poisonous weapons in the hands of an enemy. But the true leader refuses to give in. He or she perseveres.
These six qualities can apply to leadership of all kinds—not only to national or international top brass but to leadership in the professions, in business and industry, in the media and the church. Parents are leaders in the home, and so are teachers in school or college. Student leaders are also hugely influential in many parts of the world. Nehemiah’s example can inspire us all.
For further reading: Nehemiah 6