In Chuck Swindoll's "Hand me Another Brick", he noted the following from Nehemiah 2:
FOUR PRINCIPLES ON PREPARATION
Nehemiah was preparing for a tough job, but he had his head on straight. The account of his preparation reveals what I consider to be four timeless principles for getting started God’s way.
1. Changing a Heart Is God’s Specialty. Do not—I repeat—do not try to change people to fit your specifications. Don’t try to manipulate people, play games, plan schemes, trick, or deceive them. Instead, tell God on them! You may have a spouse who is just plain ornery, and you were told this very morning that he or she does not plan to change! Let God deal with your mates’ stubbornness.
Perhaps you are working with someone who is unfair and unbending, just plain unreal. How are you going to work in this situation? You’ve tried every manipulative move in the world without success. Talk to God about him or her.
You may know people in business or at school who are impossible creatures! God says, “Let Me at them. I will change them in ways you never would believe possible. Now, I’m not going to do it according to your timetable. I’m going to do it in My time.” So between now and then, just relax.
But in the meantime, don’t look so spiritual! When your spouse looks at you and says, “What are you doing?” don’t turn to him or her with your eyelids at half-mast and say with a syrupy-sweet tone, “I’m just praying for you, Honey, that God will change your life.”
That’s terrible stuff! Just relax; let God take care of it. Then when change comes, guess who gets all the glory.
2. Praying and Waiting Go Hand in Hand. You have never really prayed until you’ve learned to wait, and to wait with release. Abandon yourself—let God change the king’s heart. This is tough; it cuts across the grain of our human nature. But stand firmly. Give up your own homemade solutions and run the risk of letting God take charge.
3. Faith Is Not a Synonym for Disorder or a Substitute for Careful Planning. People of faith need orderly minds. Leaders like Nehemiah think through the problems they face. Although their circumstances may allow them to go only half a step now, you can be sure they have already thought through the next twelve, Why? Because faith breeds organization—they go together.
Some years ago I had the opportunity of working with businessmen, and it was one of the best learning experiences I have ever had. For more than three years, I met regularly with a group of salesmen associated with a large corporation. During those encounters I learned to think a lot more like businessmen think, and I learned to appreciate them.
Almost everything that is presented to businessmen is communicated in terms of practical facts. These facts form the foundation upon which further discussion is built. From these committed Christian businessmen, I learned that God honors orderly thinking.
He isn’t pleased when we expect Him to spare us the pain of failure when we haven’t even considered the cost of success. O f course, He does not want us to fail in that to which He calls us, but He is pleased when we plan.
4. Opposition Is to Be Expected When God’s Will Is Carried Out. When a person knows he is following Gods will, it is unusual if there is not at least one person who opposes him. I have rarely known it to be otherwise.
Don’t you love this guy Nehemiah? He meets us right where we live. When he faced financial needs, he asked the king for letters. When he was afraid, he said, “Lord, give me the words to say.” He was a man of faith, yet he carefully balanced faith with realism. He didn’t have to have a detailed game plan in his hands, but he thought through the expected difficulties. He was a man of indomitable courage. Think of how he left all that he knew in Susa, got on his mount and took off—on an eight-hundred-mile journey. What a great experience! Yet, how threatening—how risky from a human viewpoint.
Nehemiah has displayed four prerequisite steps to be taken by those who would desire to discover and develop their leadership potential and skills. He (1) realized his own limitations—only God can change a man’s heart; (2) turned to God—praying and waiting; (3) organized a feasible plan of action (while waiting for the Lord to answer); and (4) pressed on, despite vocal opposition, to execute the plan—once God opened the way.
A plan is primary; waiting for God to work is essential; but following through with people is where it’s at. In the next chapter we will move into the phase where the rubber of leadership meets the road of reality—the whole issue of stimulating and motivating others to roll up their sleeves and get the job done.
For me, the concept that resonate most with me is that, "Good leaders do their homework!". What about you?
There isn’t a question to respond to for today’s devotional; however, WOW I SEE GOD SPEAKING. I literally have chills right now – God is so cool. ?
Yesterday, God was speaking to me about how a heart transplant is necessary in my life. My heart currently needs metaphorical “surgery” because it has been bruised, beaten up, abused, ripped apart. I would say several months ago, I was “praying” for a breakthrough, but didn’t take any action to do so. I was truthfully plagued by my insecurities, doubts, lack of trust in God to heal me, and continuously falling into temptation to fill the deep void in my heart. Correspondingly, today it talks about how “Changing a heart is God’s speciality”. If I truly want to experience transformation, I have to evaluate and ask myself, “Am I praying about it? Am I not only praying about it, but am I waiting on God patiently – not succumbing to the desires of my heart? Am I taking the necessary steps to deepen my faith and allowing myself to hear God speak truth into my life?”
I totally see how God is slowly working in my life, and the ways in which I can see God working is because I have been intentional about drawing near to Him. In the past, I’ve made numerous excuses as to why I didn’t want to seek God, but not this time. The time is NOW, and ultimately, I want to carry out God’s will and the plans he has made for me. At the end of the day, I have to always come back to this question: “Am I here to please man or am I here to please God?” Hopefully, it is the latter and that I would continue to re-evaluate where my heart is.
Again and again, I will continue to proclaim, “God is good all the time” even when I cannot fully see it myself at this time.
Lord, would you help me to surrender the desires of my heart? Thank you God for being a loving father who endlessly showers me with grace and mercy. I am undeserving and not any worthy of your love, yet you still love me. It is not only by gifting my new mercies each morning, but through your acts of being just by correcting me when I am wrong and teaching me how to become more like you in those times of wrongdoings. Father, I need you. I DESPERATELY NEED YOU. I need you in my life and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Help me to make you the #1 love and priority of my life again. I’m sorry Lord for the ways I put others, dreams, passions, and desires above you. Would you please forgive me for idolizing other people’s opinions above yours and for betraying you every time I act on my own will? Lord, help me to shape me into a woman after your own heart and to not let any distractions or hindrances get in the way. Thank you God for the ways you have already spoken truth and love into my life. You truly are a good, good father and I cannot thank you enough. Thank you for loving me when I have not reciprocated that love. Help to remind me of how no one – literally no one – can love me as much as you do. Instill this passion and desire to follow you and to make more disciples. PLEASE USE ME, GOD. Amen.
One thing that I find interesting when reading this is when Swindoll said that don’t change people’s heart, instead let God do it for you. What I find interesting is what if we are not trying to change people to fit our specifications, but instead we are changing ourselves to fit to other people? Like for me, I’m a type of person that like to please other people. And so in the process, maybe it’s easier for me to change who I am as a person to fit in with the people around us. And it could be dangerous because what if, in the process of changing, I become less a person that God wants me to become? Just an interesting thought I want to point out haha
The concept that resonated most with me is “Faith Is Not a Synonym for Disorder or a Substitute for Careful Planning.” Like Bumble shared in his sermon, I hear a lot of people use God’s name in vain when it comes to things they feel God is “calling them to”
Or “putting on their heart.” They lack the aspect of prayer, of waiting, and rely on their faith to have everything fall into place. Nehemiah thought through all expected difficulties and had great courage. I admire Nehemiah as he took risks to carry out God’s plan but realized his own limitations knowing only God can change people’s hearts and waited on Him.
The concept that most echoed with me is the very point of “changing a heart is God’s specialty.” Often time I would take matters into my own hands and think that if I press harder and be more consistent with someone about bringing them Christ, then that’s my work and my success. But soon I realize that God controls the heart. He hardens and softens it at His will and there’s not a thing I can do about it. Seeing how God softened and hardens Pharaoh’s heart back when Moses wanted to rescue God’s people, I turn my doings to God and leave them in His hands. A great leader has many marks, but this was my struggle before I learn to let go and leave it to God.
From Brother Daniel
Day 11: For me, the concept that resonate most with me is that, “Good leaders do their homework!”. What about you?
For me, the concept that resonate most is “The right keys can open to great opportunities!” because each principle of preparation is ultimately just a door with four keyholes waiting to be open. You have to get the right keys and the only person that can give it to you is God.
There’s no Bible verse today and that’s the only question so I’ll just share my thoughts on each principles.
1.)
I like Rachel’s metaphor on a heart that needs surgery. This metaphor helps me see that changing a heart is really risky because one faults move might damage the heart more. It’s a great reminder that I’m not a surgeon so I should recommend God, the best surgeon, to others and myself. Other surgeons charge more fees for temporary fixture while God does it free for heart transplants and permanent fixtures.
2.)
Praying and waiting is something hard for me to grasp in a very long time. Even wrote a ton of songs about it because I felt like I’m doing something wrong if nothing happens. I like the part that said, “…it cuts across the grain of our human nature. But stand firmly. Give up your own homemade solutions and run the risk of letting God take charge.” because prayer becomes a form of surrendering, knowing I can’t do anything but God can. Perhaps the things I pray about may never come but at least I know it’s out of my hands. In knowing so, waiting isn’t about time anymore but about the obedience I give for God. In a way, waiting is a form of worshipping.
3.)
For number 3, what stood out to me is how faith isn’t a substitute for careful planning. This reminds me of the time my friend and I hosted our first Christian event for my high school. I planned the event months before, thinking it was a solid one. My friend and I were juniors in high school who had nothing but faith. We would pray during our meet ups hoping this event would spark a revolution throughout our school. We had a guest speaker and everything. We handed out a total of 500 flyers with a few of them taped throughout the school while spreading the information throughout social media like crazy. We also booked a whole party room with food, chairs, and tables. Money wise, we got our funds from donations through people who support what we’re doing and some of our own. Although planning went well, there was a part of the plan where I plan poorly. There weren’t any plans on seeing who’s actually coming, only how much people were invited. We had a ton of hope and faith but when the day came, only one person showed up. Although my friend and I witnessed a very interesting Q&A/apologetics/ theological reasoning from the guest speaker and the one non-believer who showed up, we were in awe of how many that didn’t. The event did what it was supposed to do by giving my school’s Christian club a revival/revolution when they heard what we did. Also, the person who showed up got all his questions quenched and did show up to my school’s Christian club somewhat often. However, if we are talking event-wise, it definitely fail. “People of faith need orderly minds.” “faith breeds organization—they go together.” My interpretation of it is that faith is definitely a good motivation and glue of a plan but it should definitely not be like winning a lottery. It is both a boost and a blind spot. This part gives me a whole new view on the term “walk by faith” because it’s not saying walk in blindly but more of trusting where the walk takes you. If I were to throw a different event, I would definitely think through more like Nehemiah.
4.)
When it comes to opposition, it seems normal because a lot of people hate my “Christian” side. However, it’s the friends I left behind that gets to me. Friends who I were close unfriended me like all the times we hang out meant nothing. It hurts but I learn getting used to it over time. “When a person knows he is following Gods will, it is unusual if there is not at least one person who opposes him.” Still, it doesn’t hurt to pray occasionally for those that are against you. You never know what God will do.
“He was a man of faith, yet he carefully balanced faith with realism.” Nehemiah is truly inspiring on how he executed his preparation for the plan God brought to his heart from day one. I only started a day ago and learned so much from him already. Nehemiah’s journey is truly a great blueprint when it comes to preparing, planning, and executing. I keep forgetting the fact that he somehow translated what God put in his heart and brought it to action. Today, we have easy access to Godly people to ask advice on and a full Bible to read while Nehemiah probably only had the Torah and maybe the other books before him. Of course God and maybe minor unmentioned priest helped Nehemiah but thats it. Basically, everything he did was based on faith in God up to this point. Cool guy
I think the second point of praying and waiting resonated with me. Often times I pray and kinda expect things to get better right away. I often don’t trust God’s timing and let Him take charge of the situation.
Today’s summary of leadership really broke things down for me, but what stood out the most for me were 1) “you’ve never really prayed until you learned to wait” and 2) “a plan is primary; waiting for God to work is essential”. I think both statements emphasize that I need to work on being patient and faithful, while remaining vigilant in prayerfully planning. It hits home for me because I also like quick results, I like to know what methods work, and which don’t so I can move forward. It’s hard to just sit and pray and simply wait sometimes!! But I’m reminded by Nehemiah’s story of presenting a plan, letting God run with it, and just faithfully waiting.
baomy-
The concept that resonates with me most is “changing a person’s heart is God’s specialty”. Sometimes I feel like I’m obligated to change someone. However when that doesn’t work out, I feel let down and even blame myself. That’s why I need to remind myself that only God can transform hearts.