Nehemiah held an important position in the Shushan palace. When his relative Hanani came to visit him, Nehemiah was not talking about his glory and status in Shushan. Instead, he was concerned about the Jews who had survived the captivity and concerning the city of Jerusalem, 1300 KM away. The city of Jerusalem had ruined walls and gates burnt with fire. In fact, he prayed for four months, and God gave him favor in the eyes of the king, he was deputed to go and rebuild the city wall. Nehemiah met the leaders in Jerusalem and mobilized them for this great task. (Nehemiah 2:17-18) He inspired them to become partners to complete the building of walls and install the gates in 52 days.
1. Identification: Nehemiah identified himself with people, by stating we are in distress. He did not preach at them but stood on the level ground alongside them.
2. No criticism: He did not criticize the leaders of Jerusalem for not doing anything for the past one hundred years. Instead of doing a postmortem, he gave them a new vision.
3. Invite partnership: Nehemiah asked for their partnership, to extend their hand to do the work. He was humble enough to acknowledge his inability to do it by himself.
4. Vision of outcome: Nehemiah pointed them toward the result instead of talking about the enormous nature of the task, difficulty involved, or risk factors. The result would be we need not live in shame or reproach.
5. God’s call: Nehemiah explained how the hand of God was upon him, that he felt the call when he prayed for four months, and that he took leave from his job as cupbearer to do this.
6. God’s time and mandate: He explained how God moved the heart of the king to depute him as well as provide protection and provision.
7. Call for engagement: Nehemiah did not promise any rewards or incentives but encouraged them to get engaged because it is God’s work.
Nehemiah’s persuasion brought the men along with their wives and children to build the wall.
Do I inspire like Nehemiah?