By Lynna Clark
Can you keep a secret? There’s stuff going on at church. Big stuff. Does it scare you to hear that? It does me. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s a lack of trust.
Now for the secret: There’s definitely stuff going on at church. Good stuff; the kind of stuff that God stands up and applauds. The kind of stuff He blesses. Good ideas and plans to reach out to people in a whole new way. Is the leadership perfect? Good gracious no. Do they fail? Often, just like the rest of us people who are made of dust. Does our ministry rise and fall on mere men? Thankfully the answer is NO! Praise God!
So where are we going on day five? Just a reminder that our leaders will have ideas that are not always mainstream. God placed them in leadership to give us a direction and a purpose. Are we to blindly follow and eat poison and drink beer? [Still trying to make a sermon out of the mouse story on day four] The answer is of course a resounding NO. But here’s a lesson from Nehemiah 2. Verses 11-16 tell about Nehemiah’s discretion. Everything will not seem logical to everyone at all times. Discretion is key. So if you hear of a plan in the works, trust the leadership of those God has placed in position. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Pray often for them. And when a new idea is presented, you will have prayed ahead of time, and it will be easier to say, like the folks Nehemiah shared his vision with in 2:17-18, “’Good! Let’s rebuild the wall!’ So they began the good work.”
Wouldn’t you hate to be named with the guys in verse 19, who, when they heard of the plan, “scoffed contemptuously?” Sounds like some business meetings I’ve attended. So today, pray for your leadership, for exciting plans, for stepping out where no one has gone before. The sky really is the limit. God has no need of one more church that sits around holding hands with each other saying, “We’ve never done it that way before.” The world is watching to see if we care.
More Nehemiah 2:9-20
Prayer: Lord please strengthen us today with positive words, and support for our leaders. Help us when we doubt, to look to You, knowing You love Your church way more than we do. Give our leadership great wisdom, and wonderful ideas for reaching a world that has no hope. They need You so badly. Help us to love them enough to risk a little change in order to meet them where they are, for Your glory.
