Nehemiah shows very impressively what it means to take initiative. He took initiative in prayer for Jerusalem, in planning the project to rebuild the wall, in persuading the people, and in carrying out what everyone in the end wanted. He did it in exactly this order, and that reveals a number of truths about the quality of initiative.
When Nehemiah heard about Jerusalem's destroyed wall, he could no longer sit still. He had to act and do something about it. Of all the things a leader should fear, complacency is at the very top of the list.
What qualifies a leader as taking initiative?
Nehemiah's example shows that good leaders who take initiative are driven by something on their heart to change. Often, at that moment, they don't yet know exactly what that should be, but they sense that they must act. Nehemiah had this sense on several levels:
- he knew how long the project would take (Neh. 2:6)
Nehemiah gave King Artaxerxes an exact period of time during which he would be away.
- he knew what path he had to take and what risks would come his way (Neh. 2:7)
Nehemiah asked the king for letters of permission that secured him a low-risk path to Jerusalem.
- he knew what he needed to complete the project (Neh. 2:8)
Nehemiah ordered beams and timber in advance for rebuilding the gates of Jerusalem.
- he knew that the hand of God was on him (Neh. 2:8)
Nehemiah received everything he had asked for, because the hand of God was on him.
The qualities of initiators
1. They know what they want.
Desire is the starting point of every journey. Nehemiah felt that he wanted to rebuild the wall.
2. They drive themselves to act.
At the beginning, Nehemiah worked alone and created facts on the ground, so that others would join the project.
3. They take on risks.
Nehemiah took on some significant risks when he asked for permission, materials, and protection for the journey.
4. They make mistakes.
Nehemiah was not afraid to bring men into the project who were neither professional soldiers nor professional masons.
5. They follow their gut.
What Nehemiah lacked in experience, he made up for with the passion of his heart.
Nehemiah 1:4 - 2:8
4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,
5 And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:
6 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.
7 We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.
8 Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:
9 But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.
10 Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.
11 O LORD, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.
Nehemiah Travels to Jerusalem
2:1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.
2 Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,
3 And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it.
6 And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.
7 Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;
8 And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.