Nehemiah – Wisdom to Balance Work and Security

       This is Chuck Rapp with Multiply, a podcast to provide a word of encouragement for village church

planters and leaders.

Today we continue our series on the leadership qualities of Nehemiah. There is so much we can learn –

and seek to follow – from this man.

Chapter 4 introduces the opposition from Sanballat, Tobiah and others. I appreciate Nehemiah’s

response in 4:9. “But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.” We,

like Nehemiah, must first trust God and then do our part as well. VCP leaders and church planters face

opposition from many sources … other religions, local or governmental leaders, sometimes even church

leaders. In the face of such challenges, we must pray, trust God, and then discern and obey what the

Holy Spirit instructs us to do.

I appreciate the instructions Nehemiah gave in 4:16-17. “From that day on, half were equipped with

spears, shields, bows and armor… Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a

weapon in the other.” What a great picture of a spiritual worker! We labor with one hand while holding

the weapons of spiritual warfare in the other. Ephesians 6:10-18 provides excellent instruction for us as

we prepare to engage in spiritual warfare.

I see in this passage that Nehemiah had the leadership wisdom to balance the urgency to complete the

work with the security of the workers. VCP faces this challenge in a number of places where we work.

In fact, some VCP planted churches have been attacked and destroyed, and a few church leaders have

lost their lives to physical attacks. Please join me in praying for Director Claude and others who must

find God’s wisdom to avoid unnecessarily exposing our workers to danger while also endeavoring to

complete the vision to plant a church in every African village by 2050.

I admire the courage of these ordinary men and women who worked to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

May God grant similar courage to our VCP workers.

Lastly, I’d like to point out one additional characteristic of a leader that I see in this fourth chapter.

4:18b tells us that “The man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me.” And 4:20a, “Wherever you

hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there.”

Leaders are responsible for warnings and communication. Ezekiel 33:6-7 and Hosea 8:1 are two of many

scriptures that describe the duty of leaders to sound an alarm or issue a warning to the people.

Sometimes these messages are difficult and not well received. Nonetheless, we are to “speak the truth

in love.” (Ephesians 4:15) We are held accountable if we fail to do so.

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters and leaders.