We have all watched sporting events where one team could not get a break. The outcome seemed sure. All the momentum was working for one team when something happens – a mistake by the team with all the momentum or a super effort by one of the players on the downtrodden team and momentum swings and the impossible happens; the sure winner loses. Momentum is a leader’s best friend. Momentum is critical for success. When a leader has momentum with their team they may even appear to be better than they really are. Momentum can’t be taken for granted and when it slips the wise leader takes action to get it back. Read Nehemiah 4:7-20.

Nehemiah was enjoying great success in the Jerusalem wall building project. The people bought into Nehemiah’s leadership. They saw the vision, acted with unity and were moving quickly to build a wall around the city. The people in Jerusalem were enjoying great success and they had forward momentum to finish the project when some of the region’s men, who had control before Nehemiah showed up, made their move. These were high-powered, non-Jewish officials who had influence, wealth and military power.

When everything is going good even an average leader can sustain a team – at least for the short term. When everything seems to be in crisis great leadership is required to hold a project together and maintain forward progress. Read Nehemiah 4:9-23.

The people living in Jerusalem had begun rebuilding the wall under Nehemiah’s leadership. The enthusiasm ran high as the project started but after a few weeks the project had problems that would require great leadership:

Effective leaders use rewards to bolster motivation and performance. Read Nehemiah 3:1-32.

Rebuilding the walls around the city of Jerusalem was a daunting task. There was over a mile of wall to be built and some of the foundation stones were very large. The Babylonian army had torn down the walls creating tangled and twisted piles of rubble that needed to be unraveled before those stones could be re-used in the wall. There were steep hills on the eastern side of Jerusalem and many of the stones had tumbled into valleys making retrieving the stones for the wall difficult. The people had little or no specialized equipment to lift the stones and the people living in the city were not expert in construction.

Effective leaders know that encouragement precedes mobilization. Read Ezra 6:13-15.

Cyrus, the king of Assyria who had given the Jewish exiles free reign to return to their homeland and rebuild the temple was no longer king. When Artaxerxes became king the local opposition living near Jerusalem pulled a political end game and convinced the new king the Jews would be a threat to Assyria if the temple construction continued. “Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill (some 14 years) until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia” (4:24).

The people living in Jerusalem were afraid to restart construction even though Artaxerxes was no longer king. God sent two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, to encourage the people to finish construction of the temple. Despite continued opposition, Haggai and Zechariah inspired and encouraged the people to resume work and the temple was completed and dedicated to the Lord in 516 BC. Encouraging leaders are able to help their team follow through on what they have begun.

One lesson that Christian leaders seem to learn and forget, learn and forget is that God’s rewards are based on faithfulness to Him rather than abilities or achievements. Read 2 Chronicles 7:11-22.

The Bible indicates God established and endorses the principle of giving rewards for good work unless it replaces God as our passion for life. In today’s Scripture God promises rewards to the nation for obedience but punishment for disobedience. The Lord stresses that His commitment is not to the newly-built temple, but to His people and their relationship to Him.