By Chad Hershberger
This blog post is part of a series on leadership lessons from the prophet Nehemiah.
If you are of a certain age, you’ll remember cassette tapes. One of the first tapes that I owned was “The Chipmunks Go Hollywood.” Alvin, Simon, and Theodore sang some of the current 80s hits from Tinsel Town—like Eye of the Tiger! They are also famous for their Christmas hit, “The Christmas Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)” that features a hula hoop.
A cassette or video tape can rewind and fast-forward! In leadership, reflection and preparation are important. One of the things we are doing now at camp in our yearly cycle is evaluating programs and planning for the coming year. It’s a process that provides us the opportunity to change what is not working, eliminate those items that don’t fit into our mission anymore, and get ready for the coming calendar year.
Rewinding and fast-forwarding serve leaders well. Look for those big audacious goals that might take extra time (or years) to fulfill. And plan for your own spiritual care to be prepared for what is ahead.
In the fifth chapter of Nehemiah, the Biblical book we’ve been studying in these leadership articles, there was great internal strife, including from outside sources.
How do we take care of ourselves spiritually as leaders? We see in this Biblical chapter that God is working in Nehemiah. His enemies are afraid of what God is doing. He can do the impossible because God is on his side.
In several verses of this chapter, we see Nehemiah praying. He was seeking God’s will for his life and seeking direction from the Lord. He was connected to God.
How do you, as a leader, stay connected to God? If God is involved in what you are doing, it will be good! Let God be your guide as you make decisions and chart a course for your organization.
Engaging in our own spiritual self-care helps us to be more connected to God and maybe better see the course we need to take. In ministry, we are so often consumed with providing faith formation to those we serve. But we also need to feed ourselves through normal faith practices.
In this passage, we hear about people wanting Nehemiah to go a village in the plains. Plains in the Bible speak of going away toward God. Mountains speak of people going toward God. Often, we talk about “mountaintop experiences” of our faith. When have you had one of those recently?
As you plan, make plans to engage in regular faith practices. Pray. Worship. Read scripture. Service. Look for ways to be connected in Christian community. Take care of your own spiritual well-being so you can do ministry with others and share the mind of Christ.
Other entries in this series:
Part 1: Nehemiah and team leadership
Part 2: Building up and creating order out of chaos
Part 3: More lessons from Nehemiah
Part 4: Spiritual care and the rewind