Leadership Trusts God, but Still Works the Plan - Nehemiah 1-4

 Nehemiah 4:19-20 (ESV)

And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another. In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”

Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the city, starting on the city walls.   When he arrived he had no idea that the rebuilding of the city would first start with rebuilding of the mindset of the people.  They were very defeated.  Their outward enemies were scornful and belittling them.  There was actually a plot to get the workers on the walls to desert (Nehemiah 4:10-14).  Nehemiah, however, came up with a plan to make sure no one deserted the work and everyone felt supported and safe in the work.  He assured they had hope that the work would be finished and that they were safe while doing the work.   Because the work was so spread out it was necessary for Nehemiah to establish an alarm system to alert everyone to where to concentrate on safety.  He, himself, would be on constant guard for the people.  He made himself available and engaged in the work.   As he supervised the worked he focused on the safety of his people.   So he made sure the people were not lax.   He made sure they were ready and able to protect themselves and each other.  Yet, he also reminded them that the strength for them was not in his organizational skills or in their fighting skills.  He reminds them that it is God who will fight for them.    Nehemiah is a great leader who not only engaged the people in the work, but also engaged them with God, who was both behind the work and the purpose for the work.   He took care of their immediate safety, but also made sure they didn’t just sit and wait for God to supernaturally complete the work.  God would use them to complete the work and He watched over them.  God would defend them by making sure Nehemiah equipped them.  Good leadership relies on God as they equip their teams to fight the fight and do the work.   Faith is an action item that is demonstrated by works.