Last week, we looked at Nehemiah’s preparation for his work Part one Part two Part three. Today, we finish reviewing his process.

+++

4. A specific plan of how to proceed.

Okay, now life gets more complicated. The planning phase can overwhelm the project. But Nehemiah has worked out the details. So when the king asks questions, Nehemiah has clear answers.

• I will need a leave of absence from work, so here’s how long I need.
• We will need permission as we travel, so give me letters.
• We will need wood to rebuild the gates, so give me a letter to the forester.

And he knew what he needed to do when he got to Jerusalem.

• Rest without telling people the plan.
• See for himself how badly the city was damaged.
• Gather the leadership and tell them the plan.

The specificity of Nehemiah’s plan is remarkable. And the steps of the plan are a pretty good model for anyone needing to know how to approach a challenging project.

5. A commitment to act on the plan.

No matter how good a plan, it is useless unless you actually do stuff. Nehemiah actually did stuff. When the king asked, he answered. When the king approved the plan, Nehemiah left. He did every step in his plan with confidence.  And when he faced opposition, he was able to tell his distractors, “Here’s what we’re doing. You can’t stop us.”

So what?

I don’t know what your great work is. For some of my friends, it starts with one of these:

• “Kids the age of my daughter are being bought and sold.”
• “I don’t know enough about the Bible to answer my friend’s questions.”
• “Families are broken and the kids are getting lost.”
• “There are people in that village who don’t have a Bible in their heart language.”
• “We’ve abandoned the people around our church.”

Whether you are leading an organization or leading yourself, I commend Nehemiah’s five steps to you.

+++

“That was pretty good,” Nehemiah said. “That’s what I did. But I wasn’t following any points like that. I was just doing what made sense.”

“I know,” I replied. “But some of us haven’t learned that sense. Until we watch you, that is.”

+++

Reflecting on Nehemiah 2. Taken from A Great Work: A Conversation with Nehemiah for People (Who Want to Be) Doing Great Works.