Serving God - people skills

We're studying for our second week in the second chapter of Nehemiah. We're still focused on serving God, and doing it realistically; by that I mean not getting caught up in excitement so that we are disappointed when things get tough -- and also not getting pessimistic and thinking all is lost, so we throw up our hands and throw in the towel!

One thing is for sure -- when we are serving God, we must learn to work with people.
Nice people.
Not-so-nice people.
Happy people.
Grumpy people.
Hard working people.
People who would rather be spectators.
It's easy to be idealistic about the task God has for us, until we meet the actual, real, live, human beings that we have to work with!
A situation comedy that's now in syndication, Frasier, shows the everyday troubles of a radio personality. He sits in a quiet radio studio and speaks into a microphone, counseling callers about their problems and phobias. He sometimes gets frustrated by his callers, but oh, boy! When he has to actually relate to the people in his life in a one-on-one situation? Phew! Whole different story!

Isn't that the way we are sometimes?
We can pray and plan our task that God has given us. We can wait on Him to open the door for us.
But then we hit some roadblocks when we need to work with other people! Do we anticipate this, and respond tactfully? Are we ready to explain our plans, or are we resentful when people resist us?
Without knowing it, we can be abrasive.
After all, God gave us this task.
He wants us to do it.
We've prayed and planned.
But we also need to be sensitive to others. People skills are important!
Nehemiah is a good example for us. He responded graciously, with tactfulness, but when needed, he was strong, too.
Let's look at his example in working with an unbeliever: Artaxerxes. This was a situation that required a lot of prayer and a lot of finesse! After all, the king was his boss, and quite literally could make Nehemiah's head roll! Frankly, that is the reason why Nehemiah was a bit afraid when the king asked him, "Why are you sad in my presence?"  There could be severe consequences if you, as my grandma used to say, rained on his parade! Add to this the fact that Artaxerxes had stopped the work on the wall (remember back in Ezra?) before. The Medes and the Persians were known for being unchangeable - kind of a "my word is law" on steroids. So Nehemiah had quite a task ahead of him if he hoped to change that decree of Artaxerxes!

How did he do it? Well, first of all, it is amazing to us humans how God can soften the hearts of the Most Difficult People if we will spend time asking Him to do so! Secondly, Nehemiah had the respect of Artaxerxes. He was trustworthy and loyal -- so much so, that the king wanted to know when Nehemiah would be back. Lastly, our favorite cupbearer was tactful: instead of mentioning Jerusalem by name (that would have been a sore spot), he calls it the place of his forefathers' tombs. That is something that a pagan ruler can relate to. So, call him sensitive or call him tactful, Nehemiah was using his people skills, here!

Nehemiah also knew how to relate to demoralized people. The Jews in Jerusalem believed in God and His covenant, at least with head knowledge. But heart knowledge? They had lost hope. After all, they'd tried to work on the walls and they'd been shot down! They were likely to resent this outsider coming in and telling them how to do things. How Nehemiah proceeded after his arrival shows that he had anticipated some of this. He spent three days on what we call today "due diligence" and thinking about how to present this to overcome objections and rank negativity.  Then after those three days, he called everyone together for a discussion -- and he said he was "in the same boat" with them:

Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” (v 17)

See what he did there? It wasn't THEIR problem. It was OUR problem. And he appealed to a need that they all felt . . . the disgrace. Finally, he told them that God had already been working on their behalf:

I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me. (v 18a)

They responded instantly:

They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work. (v 18b)

There's an art to working with people and motivating them to do God's work -- Nehemiah shows us that we should combine wisdom and tact with plain truth.

The last group of people to test Nehemiah's "people skills" were the enemies of Jerusalem. Sanballat was the governor of Samaria (to the north). Tobiah ruled to the east. Geshem was the leader of the Arabs to the south. All three opposed a fortified Jerusalem: it threatened their political positions! They could not have cared any less about the plight of the Jews (or about God's glory) and they joined together to accuse the people of rebellion. Nehemiah was both wise and courageous in his response. He did not meet with them or hear their concerns, since compromise with them would have been a huge mistake! He drew the line between them and God's people, saying they could not join the project. He realize they intended to sabotage it. He said:

I answered them by saying, “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it.” (v 20)

What an example for us in our service for God! Nehemiah's people skills were awesome. We'll learn more about how he handled problems when we study again.