Serving God - problem solving

We've been reminded this week that any time we try to do something for God, there will be problems! Our enemy, the devil, will see to that. Sometimes the problems can be solved with people skills.  We saw that Nehemiah used his people skills in two situations that we can relate to today.

First, he had to speak to his boss, who was an unbeliever, and persuade him in a manner that he (the boss) could relate to. How did he do it? Well, Nehemiah was someone whom Artaxerxes had come to trust -- he was competent, honest, and of good character. Because of all this, he was able to speak to Artaxerxes in a way that he could relate to.
In our lives, we should be witnesses to people on the job and in other situations, first by showing godly character and competence. Then we will be able to give a verbal witness when the Holy Spirit opens the door for us. Anytime that we need to speak to someone about a difficult subject, think prayerfully about how that person will receive it. God will help us to speak in a manner that the person will be certain to identify with, and He will guide us to say the right things in the right way.

The second situation that Nehemiah used his people skills on was when he needed to discern someone's true motives, and then tactfully turn them away. We noted in our study that anytime we rise up and say, "Let's do something for the Lord!" then the enemy will say, "Let's do something to stop those Christians!" As godly people, we must have the discernment to know when to work with people and when to confront them. And we must also have the tactfulness to oppose them graciously.

Other times, we need to utilize problem-solving skills. Are we tired of wrestling with problems? Well, as one wit noted, we know we're alive by the fact that we have problems! Anytime that we begin a new task for God, there will be obstacles. Even if it's not an overt, in-our-face kind of resistance, there will be problems ahead and we must solve them. Nehemiah had a very large problem: the walls were in piles of rubble! The gates were burned down and the gaps standing open!

Nehemiah wanted to serve God realistically, and we can do the same. How did he begin?

I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days 12 I set out during the night with a few others. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on.13 By night I went out through the Valley Gate toward the Jackal Well and the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire. 14 Then I moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was not enough room for my mount to get through; 15 so I went up the valley by night, examining the wall. Finally, I turned back and reentered through the Valley Gate. 16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work. (Nehemiah 2:11-16)

He began with an appraisal of the entire situation. He took his time and worked carefully. There was not a lot of "hoopla" as my grandma used to call it. No retinue of servants with him. No Building Committee to pull their beards and consult in hushed tones as Nehemiah looked around.
Just Nehemiah.
And his horse.
And his horse didn't say anything. (Grin)
He took his time, and did a careful appraisal. He didn't jump to any conclusions. In one place, the rubble was so bad that he couldn't ride his horse or mule through the debris. As the leader, he needed to know exactly how things looked. He needed to know how bad things actually were, so that he could develop a practical, realistic plan for solving the problems. Nehemiah didn't gloss over the problems, and he also put himself squarely in the same boat with the people. No "holier than thou" or "I'm the boss" attitudes here.

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.” 18 I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me.They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work. (v 17-18)

Nehemiah didn't pull any punches. He admitted to the people that they were all in trouble because of the condition of the walls and gates. But he tempered this with optimism: "come, let us rebuild." In our lives, too, we need that balance. Some people are so upbeat, or so mellow and laid back, that they refuse to acknowledge just how bad things are. It may appear that they are out of touch -- kind of hard for the leaders to lead in those cases.
Other people become so engulfed and overwhelmed by the problems that they lose the ability to encourage others and inspire them to the work. Nehemiah sets an example for us in seeing the problems realistically -- we will see later that he breaks the solution into manageable units, in order to get the job completed. And he never loses sight of where their help will come from:

20 I answered them by saying, “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, (V 20a)

To sum up this study of chapter two of Nehemiah, if we want to serve God successfully, we must serve Him realistically . . . we need to wait on His timing, to learn to work with other people, and to wrestle with problems. The fact that we are doing the Lord's work and that He is on our side doesn't mean that everything is going to go smoothly and effortlessly! We need both the optimism of what God wants us to do and the realism that there will be major hurdles to overcome with His help.

There's a familiar old saying that comes to mind: "Only one life, 'twill soon be past; only what's done for Christ will last."
Let's have joy in serving God!