By Warren Wiersbe

      Are we the kind of leaders and followers God wants us to be? Like Nehemiah, do we have a burden in our hearts for the work God has called us to do? (Neh. 2:12). Are we willing to sacrifice to see His will accomplished? Are we patient in gathering facts and in planning our work? Do we enlist the help of others or try to do everything ourselves? Do we motivate people on the basis of the spiritual-what God is doing-or simply on the basis of the personal? Are they following us or the Lord as He leads us?

      As followers, do we listen to what our leaders say as they share their burdens? Do we cling to the past or desire to see God do something new? Are we cooperating in any way with the enemy and thus weakening the work? Have we found the job God wants us to complete?

      Anyone can go through life as a destroyer; God has called His people to be builders. What an example Nehemiah is to us! Trace his 'so' statements and see how God used him: 'So I prayed' (2:4); 'So I came to Jerusalem' (v. 11); 'So they strengthened their hands for this good work' (v. 18); 'So built we the wall' (4:6); 'So we labored in the work' (v. 21); 'So the wall was finished' (6:15).

      Were it not for the and determination that came from his faith in a great God, Nehemiah would never have finished the work.

      As Dr. V. Raymond Edman used to say, 'It is always too soon to quit.'

      Paul writes: "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain" (1 Cor. 15:58, niv).