Don’t Be a Lone Ranger? (Nehemiah 2:16)

And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, and I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work.        

THE STUDY:

          What we don’t find in verse 16 is a list of people who need not be informed of the upcoming event, the reconstruction of the wall. Actually, what we find in verse 16 is the list of people who will be contributing to the task at hand.

          As a leader who is facing a project or dilemma you will have the conclusion of the project or the resolution of the dilemma in sight. A leader is visionary and seeing the conclusion of a problem or project is natural. Nehemiah knew in his heart what God wanted done, “rebuilding of the wall!” Even before seeing this project first hand he was given the steps to accomplish this project.

          Nehemiah knew that before he initiated the project to rebuild the wall he needed to gather all the information. There is two reasons he needs this: 1) for himself to be able to devise the appropriate steps, 2) for the people who will be instrumental in accomplishing the project. He states “and the rest who were to do the work” which tells us that he knew the next step which was to recruit all the people who will be a part rebuilding the wall.

         

WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY WITH ….

• We walk away this morning with the understanding that the bigger the task God gives us, the more people that will be needed to accomplish the task. John Maxwell states in his book, The 17 indisputable Laws of Teamwork, “One is too small a number to achieve greatness.”

APPLICATION:

           The following is a bricklayer's accident report, which was printed in the newsletter of the Australian equivalent of the Workers' Compensation board.

Dear Sir,

I am writing in response to your request for additional information in Block 3 of the accident report form. I put "poor planning" as the cause of my accident. You asked for a fuller explanation and I trust the following details will be sufficient.

I am a bricklayer by trade. On the day of the accident, I was working alone on the roof of a new six story building. When I completed my work, I found that I had some bricks left over which, when weighed later were found to be slightly in excess of 500 lbs. Rather than carry the bricks down by hand, I decided to lower them in a barrel by using a pulley, which was attached to the side of the building on the sixth floor. Securing the rope at ground level, I went up to the roof, swung the barrel out and loaded the bricks into it. Then I went down and untied the rope, holding it tightly to ensure a slow descent of the bricks.

You will note in Block 11 of the accident report form that I weigh 135 lbs. Due to my surprise at being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless to say, I proceeded at a rapid rate up the side of the building.

In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel which was now proceeding downward at an equal, impressive speed. This explained the fractured skull, minor abrasions and the broken collar bone, as listed in section 3 of the accident report form. Slowed only slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley.

Fortunately by this time I had regained my presence of mind and was able to hold tightly to the rope, in spite of beginning to experience a great deal of pain.

At approximately the same time, however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Now devoid of the weight of the bricks, that barrel weighed approximately 50 lbs. I refer you again to my weight. As you can imagine, I began a rapid descent, down the side of the building.

In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming up. This accounts for the two fractured ankles, broken tooth and several lacerations of my legs and lower body.

Here my luck began to change slightly. The encounter with the barrel seemed to slow me enough to lessen my injuries when I fell into the pile of bricks and fortunately only three vertebrae were cracked.

I am sorry to report, however, as I lay there on the pile of bricks, in pain, unable to move, I again lost my composure and presence of mind and let go of the rope and I lay there watching the empty barrel begin its journey back down onto me. This explains the two broken legs.

I hope this answers your inquiry.

          I hope this help us remember that the plans that God has for us will most assuredly involve others as well. God had a calling for Nehemiah and Nehemiah knew this calling was going to require others to be a part of it. God has a calling for your life but I have a feeling it will involve others as well.

          Today, don’t try and be the Lone Ranger! He had Tonto! Greatness requires others to come along side you.

Blessings my friends

Pastor Rod