How do you maintain forward progress during crisis? (118-4)

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:

• Rebuilding the walls was a tough physical job. Remember the wall was torn down nearly 150 years ago, weeds and even trees had grown up in the piles of rocks.
• Some of the stones had been pushed down steep hills and needed to be moved long distances without proper equipment.
• The Jews had difficult opposition from the people who had inhabited the land for nearly six generations, since the day the Jews had been taken into exile. They did not want the Jews to establish a fortified city nor a military and political powerbase in Judah. These individuals would go to any lengths to keep the walls around Jerusalem from being rebuilt.
• The people were physically tired, didn’t have enough people to protect themselves and still build the wall, and were quickly becoming discouraged and questioning “why” they were working at this pace when it could have been a long term project.

One of the great leadership quotes of scripture that shows the balance of God’s sovereignty and human work is found in verse 9, “But we prayed to our God and posted a guard…” Nehemiah drew upon all his leadership reserves and God’s wisdom to develop a plan that would avert the immediate exhaustion, discouragement and military crisis. Consider the following simple but brilliant plan:

• He recognized the problem and took appropriate action.
  • He brought in the Jewish settlers living in the regions near Jerusalem and had them stay in Jerusalem to bolster his workforce and give the safety provided by greater numbers.
  • He stationed armed guards behind vulnerable sections of the wall visible to his team and the enemy force.
• He encouraged the people to remember their history when the one true God fought for them and the enemy was defeated without them lifting a sword in their own defense.
• He gave them strong motivation to complete the task by reminding them they were fighting for their sons, daughters, wives and homes.

Nehemiah demonstrated great leadership in solving the immediate problems while keeping the vision in front of the people. What leadership problems are you facing right now? Do they seem overwhelming? What would be your equivalent of “…praying to God and posting a guard?” Seek God to find a balance between His wisdom and your actions.