Godward Thoughts

God willing, I’m finishing a sermon series on Nehemiah tomorrow morning. The following is from Warren Wiersbe summarizing the leadership qualities of Nehemiah.

1. He knew he was called of God

Before you quickly move into a place of ministry, be sure God has called you and equipped you for the job. You may not think you can do it, and others may have their doubts; but if God calls you, have no fear: He will see you through.

2. He depended on prayer

The Book of Nehemiah starts and ends with prayer. And in between, Nehemiah oftens sends up quick prayers to heaven and asks for God’s help. “Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers,” said Phillips Brooks. “Pray for powers equal to your tasks.” One mark of true spiritual leaders is their honest acknowledgment of their own inadequacy and their humble trust in the power of God.

3. He had vision and saw the greatness of the work

No matter what God has called you to do, it’s a great work because it’s part of the building of His church; and that’s the greatest work in the world. If you lose the greatness of a vision, you will begin to cut corners in your work, stop making sacrifices, and start looking for something else to challenge you. Nehemiah realized that what he was doing was far bigger than simply repairing gates and rebuilding walls. He was serving the Lord God of heaven and getting the holy city ready for the coming of the Messiah! Read more »

The rock pictures Jesus Christ who was smitten for us (1 Corinthians 10:4) that we might have the living water of the Holy Spirit within (John 7:37–39). The Egyptian army had been drowned, but the Amalekites were very much alive and did not want Israel in their territory. It was Esau fighting Jacob again (Genesis 36:12). It takes intercession on the mountain as well as intervention in the valley for God’s people to win the victory. Israel watched God defeat Egypt, but now they had to enter the battle themselves and trust God for victory.

Moses experienced some exciting things after leaving Egypt, but now he returns to the everyday duties of life. God balances our lives and gives us enough burdens to keep us humble and enough blessings to keep us happy. Moses returned to his family, told them all that God had done, and then worshiped the Lord with them. Sometimes an outsider can see things more clearly than those who are doing the work, and we must always be open to counsel (Proverbs 12:15; Proverbs 13:10). Moses was trying to do all the work himself, and he was not making a distinction between major matters and minor problems. He needed assistants, and he needed priorities. Note that Jethro expected Moses to seek God’s will in the matter (Exodus 18:23). What seems like good counsel from men might be bad counsel in God’s sight, so we must always ask for God’s directions (Acts 27:9–14). Exodus 18:21 describes the kind of leaders God needs, people characterized by ability, the fear of God, honesty, and a hatred for covetousness. (See Acts 6:3 for additional leadership qualities.)

Because we belong to God, we must be separated from sin (Exodus 19:10, 14, 22). God’s people are set apart from the world and unto the Lord. To impress the people with the fear of the Lord, God demonstrated His power at Sinai and warned them not to come near. It was the childhood of the nation, and the people, like children, learned from rewards and punishments. Hebrews 12:18–29 contrasts this experience with that of the New Testament believer today. We must still fear the Lord and respect the boundaries He establishes, but we are invited to “draw near” (Hebrews 10:19–25). The Israelites were not saved from Egypt by obeying the Law, but their obedience enabled them to enjoy all the blessings God had for them.