Learn More about Nehemiah
Under the wise leadership of Nehemiah, the walls of the city of Jerusalem were rebuild in only 52 days. That’s less than two months.
That seems quick and it sounds like it would have been easy, but it wasn’t. Nehemiah faced severe opposition, in multiple ways, that threatened progress and could have easily derailed the project.
Yet he stood firm, with his vision firmly fixed on his objective. At each step he deftly dismissed each interruption that could have distracted him from his mission.
This opposition took various forms, from ridicule to political, bad advice to prophetic subterfuge, and well-sounding distractions to a strategy of physical attack.
In response to the plan to attack and kill the workers, Nehemiah prayed first and then took tangible action to protect themselves.
Too often, when faced with adversity, we take action first and then pray as an afterthought, if at all. It’s not until we’ve exhausted all our own ideas that we seek God for him to rescue us.
This is not what wise leadership does—and its not what we should do. We need to seek God first—and then take reasonable precautions.
[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Nehemiah 1-4, and today’s post is on Nehemiah 4:9.]
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.
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