Codes for Christian Living

Rebuilders Let Go Without Letting Up

Nehemiah is teaching us some valuable lessons on rebuilding. We have been looking, listening, and learning from him as he got started right and then went on to build a team spirit among his troops. We have just left him as the people answered his call to arms with a determined, “Let us rise up and build!” (Nehemiah 2:18). These were not idle words. Action was now following attitude. The people were setting their hands to the work (Nehemiah 2:18). The wall was going up. The process of the actual rebuilding was under way.

When studying this Old Testament book of Nehemiah, many readers find it easier to simply skip over chapter 3 and follow the narrative straight from chapter 2 to chapter 4. However, I am convinced that this third chapter of Nehemiah holds a real key to enabling the work of rebuilding to be completed. What do we find hidden in this chapter? It is the art of delegation. And our friend Nehemiah was the master of it.

Nehemiah let go without letting up. And that is the essence of delegation. Upon his return to Jerusalem, Nehemiah knew he could not accomplish this incredible task alone. So after getting off to a good start and building a team spirit, he began to delegate tasks to others. He let go of the ownership of the project’s details, but he never let up on his passion or commitment to see it through to completion, and he held others accountable for their tasks along the way.

So how did Nehemiah do it? How was he so successful with such an enormous task, and how was it accomplished in such a short period of time? Nehemiah left us a stellar example to follow by laying out five important principles that are essential to the delegation process: set clear objectives with specific tasks, pick the right person for the right job, be an example yourself, hold others accountable, and be generous in giving genuine pats on the back.

Content drawn from The Nehemiah Code: It's Never Too Late for a New Beginning.