Artikel.

From vision to reality - leadership principles from the life of Nehemiah
by Tonny Jacobsen

Being a leader involves:
- knowing where you want to go (having a vision)
- having the courage to act on your conviction (acting in faith)
- being able to motivate others to follow (multiplying the vision)
- being able to overcome resistance (keeping the vision)

Nehemiah is a powerful example of how God calls a leader and helps him through different phases from vision to reality. Background The Book of Ezra includes the story of the miraculous return of 50,000 Jews under the leadership of Zerubbabel in 538 B. C. These Jews succeeded in rebuilding the temple. However, during almost 100 years, they were never capable of rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. In 444 B. C., Nehemiah arrives in the city as a governor. Miraculously, he has received permission to rebuild the city wall from the Persian king Artaxerxes. The enormous task in completed under his fantastic leadership in 52 days.

How was this made possible?
A. God does extraordinary things through dreams and visions (Neh. 1:1 – 2:6)
1. Nehemiah had a God-given burden for Jerusalem. Even though he was leading a comfortable and pleasant life, he opened his heart to the sorrow God felt concerning the situation (Neh. 1:4)

2. Nehemiah had a dream (vision) of building the walls This task appeared to be impossible, since the previous generation had not been able to carry it out for 96 years. There is no mention of any mighty revelation resulting in the vision. Nehemiah himself assumed responsibility for the realisation of the vision. He did not attempt to pass on responsibility to others.

3. Nehemiah nurtured the vision in prayer (Neh. 1:8-11) His prayer life was dominated by the fact that he knew the Word of God. He persisted in prayer, convinced that God could change this impossible situation.

4. People who make difference for God today are motivated by vision . Visions and dreams are the language of the Holy Spirit (Hab. 2:1-3; Acts 2:17-18). What needs do want to meet? Has God given you a vision? “A vision is a flash of reality seen from God’s perspective” (Robert E. Logan) “Dreams not only help us succeed. They keep us alive” (Robert Schuller)

B. God’s will is revealed when we act in faith on the vision (Neh. 2:1 – 3:32)
1. God made it possible for Nehemiah to act on the vision (Neh. 2:1-8) After four months, Nehemiah’s burden is suddenly brought into the spotlight. He could have allowed himself to be stopped by fear (v. 3), inferiority or apathy.

2. Nehemiah was determined in carrying out the task instantly (Neh. 2:9-15) Nehemiah possessed the ability to act straight away. His vision did not make him starry-eyed. He was absolutely realistic about the physical reality around him (Neh. 2:13-15).

3. Nehemiah gets the entire city excited about the vision, which makes them begin the work idealistically (Neh. 2:16 – 3:32) He gets the leaders involved in the work, not by condemning them, but by being a positive example and by inspiring them with his testimony (Neh. 2:16-18). A vision cannot be realised until everybody does everything he/she can (Neh. 3) “Only by risking our very lives from one hour to the next can we really live” (William James)

C. It is possible for us to overcome any attack against the realisation of the vision (Neh. 3:33 – 6:16) When we act on vision from God, we will inevitably experience resistance. These attacks will tempt us to give up (Neh. 3:38)

1. Attacks involving practical trouble and threats to the people involved (Neh. 4) When the works starts to be successful, the enemies will appear (vv. 1-3). The enemy operates through pressure and fear (vv. 4-6). The secret behind victory is to stand firm and refuse to let fear defeat you (vv. 8-9).

2. Attacks involving internal problems among the people of God (Neh. 5) The problem: the people without land had no food (v. 2), the land owners had had to mortgage their land (v. 3) and others borrowed money for taxes against extortionate interest rates (v. 4). The rich had broken the law concerning extortionate interest rates (Ex. 22:24) and the law against selling Jews as slaves to the Gentiles (Ex. 21:8). The rich acted like everyone else, but they acted against God’s law. Internal problems are solved by recognising them, doing something about them and being a positive personal example (vv. 6-18)

3. Personal attacks against the leader (Neh. 6) The enemies tried to lie about the leader and accuse him of having bad motives (vv. 1-9). After this came some false prophets who tried to create fear (vv. 10-13). Nehemiah overcame these attacks by refusing to let them control him. Not all visions are realised in 52 days. Nevertheless, the challenge we are facing is to be leaders who not only maintain the status quo, but also accomplish thing that look impossible with the human eye.

Källa: ICLM-Leadership WISDOM