LEADING IN LIFE - A Leader Plans

Nehemiah 2:1-9
Last week we looked at the first thing a leader does. He prays. He/She does other things besides pray but that's the first thing they do. The next step a leader does is plan. You pray and then you plan. This passage reveals Nehemiah as a master planner. We're going to look at the six things he did. But first, three reasons why you ought to plan.

I. WHY PLAN?
1. God does it.
Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you' says the Lord, `plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.'" 1 Cor. 14:33 "For God is not a God of disorder but of peace." He plans. If God plans, it's OK for us to plan.

2. God commands it.
1 Cor. 14:40 "Everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way." Prov. 4:26 (GN) "Plan carefully what you do, and whatever you do will turn out right." Prov. 16:9 "We should make plans counting on God to direct us."

3. It's good stewardship.
Ephesians 5:15-17 (Phillips) "Live life, then with a due sense of responsibility, not as men who do not know the meaning of life but as those who do. Make the best use of your time. Don't be vague but grasp firmly what you know to be the will of the Lord." Time management involves making the best use of opportunities. that requires planning. It's good stewardship to plan. It's not good stewardship to go through life without any planning at all.

II. HOW LEADERS PLAN

1. Think it through
v. 1, "In the month of Nisan" -- Nehemiah had gotten this burden four months earlier and for four months he's been waiting for something to happen. Now, something happens. What had been happening between when Nehemiah first got the idea of rebuilding the wall and when he actually got the opportunity to present his program to the king. What had he been doing? He'd been praying, but he also had been planning. We know that by the way he responded to the king when the king said, "What do you want." Nehemiah knew what to ask for because he had been planning.

Howard Hendricks said, "Nothing is more profitable than serious thinking, and nothing is more demanding."
Leaders need time to think, time to get away, to pray & to plan.

Leaders make time for think time. A law of leadership.

Proverbs 13:16 "A wise man thinks ahead; a fool doesn't and even brags about it!" Prov. 14:8 "The wise man looks ahead. The fool attempts to fool himself and won't face facts." It's wise to spend time thinking about your life. Ask yourself three questions: Where am I now? Where do I want to be? How will I get there? That's what Nehemiah did. He was thinking it through. He was praying for four months but he was also planning.

What happens when you pray and plan? God gives you a vision. That's the mark of all leadership. You've got to have vision to be a leader. A V. for home, family, marriage, bus., job

Leadership Law: Failing to plan is planning to fail!

You've got to think it through.

2. Prepare for opportunities
When opportunity knocks, you need to be ready to open the door. All of life is full of opportunities. There are overlooked opportunities all around us. A lot of times we're not ready for them. - check out 'Chasing Daylight' series

v. 1-3 "In the month of Nisan the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes the wine was brought to him. I took the wine and I gave it to the king and I had not been sad in his presence before. So the king asked me, `Why does your face look so sad and you're not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.' I was very much afraid." Ever felt this way?
(something to share, maybe difficult)
This is the moment Nehemiah has been waiting for. He's been praying for an opportunity to present his idea to the
king. He's got an opportunity now to state his case. Because he had planned he was ready with the answer.
Notice he had a sad face. He had a burden he couldn't hide. He was getting a little discouraged by now. "God, aren't you going to do anything about this wall. I've been praying for it." Finally the king says, "What's wrong, Nehemiah?" Notice it says "I was afraid." He was literally scared to death. In those days it was a capital crime to be sad before the king. The kings were very fickle in those days. They didn't want any downers. They didn't want anyone raining on their party. If you frowned in the presence of the king you'd get your head cut off. If you were depressed in the presence of the king, that was it! Notice it says, "This is the first time I ever appeared sad." That is a real gamble.

Not only that, but Nehemiah is going to ask permission for a leave of absence. In those days if a king did not like your request that meant he didn't like you. No wonder Nehemiah was frightened. On top of that he was going to ask permission to go rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and the king himself had said the walls could not be rebuilt! He's standing before a king who has the power of life and death. He has reason to be afraid.

Principle: Leaders move ahead in spite of their fears.

There is a myth that leaders are never afraid. Courage is moving ahead in spite of your fear. Notice what Nehemiah did with his fear. The king said to him, "What do you want? You're upset obviously." It says Nehemiah prayed. He sends up a little quickie prayer. This isn't the four months of prayer; he's already done that. This is the quick one! A silent, quick, on the spot prayer. "God, give me wisdom. Help me know what to say."
Then he answered the king in v. 3 "Why should my face not look sad? The city where my fathers are buried, lies in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire." He chooses his words very carefully; he assures the king of his loyalty, "May the king live forever!" Remember, this guy is also a bodyguard. If he's sad maybe he also knows of some assassination plot. The king's asking why his number one man is upset. The king's response was, What do you want?
The next three things Nehemiah asks for are evidence of planning.

3. Establish a goal
v. 5 "I answered the king, `If it pleases the king and your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so I can rebuild the wall.'"
Nehemiah gets specific here. He establishes a goal. He wants to rebuild the wall. He's very specific:
he wants to rebuild the wall.
Goal setting is the next step in planning. You have to have a target. If you aim at nothing, you're going to hit it
Ask yourself three questions: What do I want to be? What do I want to do? What do I want to have? Those are the questions you ask in establishing a goal.
There are two common errors we make in goal setting: We set them too low and we try to accomplish them too quickly. Inch by inch anything is a cinch. Set big goals, make big plans -- so big that God has to bail you out! God loves big planning. It honors God to be a big planner. This is what I'm expecting God to do. Not what I can do, this is what I want God to do!
Nehemiah said, I want to go rebuild a wall around a whole city. He'd never build a wall. He'd never built anything. He was a cupbearer. He had a big goal.

We set our goals too low and we try to accomplish them too quickly.

4. You set a deadline
First you pray. Then you think it trough. Then you prepare for the opportunities. People say, "That guy has all the luck. He gets all the breaks." I've found that the more I plan, the luckier I get. The opportunities are there you just have to be ready for them. Then you establish a goal. And then number four, you set a deadline.

Verse. 6 "Then the king with the queen setting beside him asked me, `How long will your journey take? and when will you get back' And I said, `It pleased the king to send me so I set a time.'"
He established a deadline.
A goal must have a deadline. If your goal doesn't have a deadline on it, it's not a goal. This is the scheduling part of planning. You know what you want to do and then you know when you want to do it. Ask the question: How long will it take?
Nehemiah established a deadline.
Considering points 3 & 4, Goals are dreams w/ a deadline.

5. You anticipate the problems.
He's already asked for permission to go, now he's asking for protection.
v. 7 "If it pleases the king may I have letters to the governors of Trans Euphrates so that they will provide me safe conduct until I arrive in Judah."
It's about 800-1000 mile journey between Iraq and Israel. He's got to go through a lot of provinces. You didn't travel freely in those days. You had to go through proper procedures. Nehemiah said, "I want you to give me letters of authority so I'll have clear sailing and when I get over there, there is no problem. I need traveling permits to travel unhindered."

This implies that Nehemiah had thought it out. Remember he's just asked here on the spot, "What do you want?" He had already thought it through. This is a clear example of planning. He was not just praying during those four months but he was also planning so that when the opportunity arose he could say what he needs.

Question to ask yourself in your own planning when you're anticipating problems: What could hold me back? In planning a project, ask yourself, Why don't I have it already? What could hold me back? What are the problems? What could go wrong? If anything could go wrong, it will.
Nehemiah is thinking ahead. He's already thought ahead where he wants to go. He's already thought ahead when he wants to go. Now he's anticipating the problems.

Leadership Principle: Managers focus on solving today's problems, leaders focus on solving tomorrow's problems.

Both of these are absolutely essential to any organization, family, business -- you need both managers and leaders. But they are not necessarily the same. Managers must focus on the day to day details -- today's problems. Leaders, the task of leadership, is to anticipate problems that nobody else is even thinking about. They figure out a way to overcome the problem before they even get there.

Management, on the other hand, which is just as essential a task, is dealing with the day to day problems.
Both are necessary.
Proverbs 22:3 (Living Bible) "A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences."
Ever known anybody like that? I've been a simpleton many times in my life when I did not foresee the problems. One of the laws of life is that it's always easier to get in than it is to get out. It's easier to get into debt than it is to get out of debt. It's easier to get into a relationship than out of a relationship. It's easier to fill up your schedule than to eliminate things from your schedule. It's a principle of life in every area. A wise man foresees difficulties ahead.

Proverbs 27:12 (Living Bible) "A sensible man watches for problems ahead and prepares to meet them."
Part of planning is to anticipate problems in advance and plan for them.

6. Calculate the cost
This is the budgeting part of planning. Principle number 4 is the scheduling part of planning, this is the budgeting part. In planning it takes both time and money. Have you learned that everything in life has a price tag? Here we have his third request.
v. 8 "And may I have a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?"

Nehemiah gives the king a shopping list. "First, I want you to let me go. Then, I want you to give me the protection to get there. And by the way, i want you to pay for it too." He asks for lumber to build three things: I want to build the beams for the city gates -- he had thought it out. Then he said, I'm going to need lumber for the city walls. Then, I want lumber for my own house. Remember, Nehemiah is not a contractor. He's never built anything in his life. He's a cupbearer. Yet, when the opportunity arose he rattled off exactly what he needed. Why? He had planned.

The first step of leadership is prayer. The second step of leadership is to plan.

How did Nehemiah know what to ask for? Evidently he calculated the cost. How in the world did he know there was a royal forest near Jerusalem? Advance planning. This whole chapter indicates that he already knew what he was doing when he got into the situation. He even knew the name of the foreman. He had already figured all of this out way in advance, so that when the opportunity arose he was prepared for the opportunities.

God has wonderful opportunities for you and I but we must be prepared to take advantage of them when they come. If Nehemiah had not had his planning done he wouldn't have been prepared. But because his planning had been so well thought out he knew exactly what to ask for.
He had calculated the cost.

Luke 14:28 "If one of you is planning to build a tower, he sits down first and figures out what it will cost to see if he has enough money to finish the job."
Who's speaking? Jesus. Jesus is advocating counting the cost.

Notice what we've just looked at is quite a risk. All Nehemiah's asking for he's asking a pagan king to do. He lays out all of his requests very clearly and he trusted the Lord. Notice: He asked for the king's permission. "Can I have permission to go build a wall." This is a life or death situation. If the king doesn't like your request, it's off with your head. He's scared to death. The king says, OK. If most of us had gotten that far, most of us would have breathed a sigh of relief and pack up and I’m Gone! We wouldn't have dared ask for anything else.

But Nehemiah hangs in there and tries further. He asks for the king's protection. "I want you to give me these letters of protection." The king doesn't flinch on that so Nehemiah continues.
Nehemiah asks for the king's provision. "Why don't you pay for it? Cut the timber from your forest?"
Nehemiah was taking tremendous risks asking this.
Laws of Leadership: Leaders are willing to ask others for assistance. You'll never be a leader until you learn how to ask people for help. No leader can do it on his own.
James 4:2 "You do not have because you do not ask."
How many people have you said, "No" for many times: "She really wouldn't want to do this".
You don't know what people will say no to. Let people say no for themselves.

It takes incredible boldness to do what Nehemiah does to ask a pagan king who has death and life in the power of his hands. It was very risky business. But because he had prayed for four months and because he had planned for four months his faith was strong enough that even though he was standing there with his knees shaking to death he kept pushing it.
The wisest risks are those taken after prayer and planning.
In Proverbs 21:1 "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord and He directs it like a water course wherever He pleases."
If God wants to move it any direction, He can. Here is a clear example of that proverb where God took a pagan king's heart and moved it all around. The point is that God is a specialist in changing hearts. God is in the business of changing hearts. It's up to Him. He's sovereign.
Nehemiah did not try to manipulate the king. When he was asked "What's wrong?" he was honest: "My home town is in shambles." He didn't make up some phoney story. He didn't make up a story about going back to Jerusalem under false pretenses. He didn't manipulate the king. He didn't trick him. He didn't play games with him. He didn't use any deceit. He talked to God about him. When you have a boss who is unsympathetic to a project, a goal you want to do don't manipulate him, don't play games with him. (sometimes when we really want something and it’s not coming together that’s the angle we try to take - manipulate, deceive, try and use brut force - pic) Just talk to God about it. Because the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord and He can turn it. Don't ever try to change anybody's heart. You can't. When you try, that's manipulation. Let God change the heart.

v. 8 After all of these things he's asked, Nehemiah's conclusion: "Because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my request." Underline "the gracious hand of my God was upon me." Notice Nehemiah gives all the credit to God. Remember this is an autobiography.
Nehemiah does not say "Look at what my planning did." He knew that God was behind it all. He knew it was not due to his cleverness. A mark of spiritual maturity is when you recognize God's hand behind those people who may be delaying you in a project that you know is going to change the world. Nehemiah says, "God was with me." But if Nehemiah hadn't prayed and planned and set this thing up, nothing would have happened.

Proverbs 16;1 (LB) "We can make our plans, but the final outcome is in God's hands."
The summary of this chapter is a beautiful example of the harmony that takes place between God's part and man's part in accomplishing things on earth. God's part is the sovereignty part. Our part is the prayer and planning part. We pray for God to set up circumstances that are out of our control. Then we plan for all the things that are under our control. It's not one or the other. It's not "Pray and let the spirit lead." The Bible says that's foolishness. It says the wise man plans. It's not just plan. It's not just up to you. It's both. God's part and my part. It's prayer, leaning on God, planning, doing the best I can. Prayer and planning go together. They're both important.
Because Nehemiah had done his homework, when the
opportunity arose he was ready.

Let's apply it to your life.
How many of you really want to grow spiritually?
The very fact that you came here today means that you want to grow spiritually.
What plans have you made for that? We plan everything else in our life, why don't we plan our spiritual growth? Do you have a plan to read through the Bible? or ... a plan to set aside a certain time everyday for prayer? ... a plan to talk to that person at work about the Lord? ...a plan to invite him over to dinner at your house, get to know him and then invite him to church? Have you planned it or are you letting it just spontaneously happen? Very few things happen spontaneously. We need a plan. A plan for witnessing. A plan for Bible reading. A plan for prayer. A plan for all of these different things in your life.

Are the plans you have ones that you just think up and then ask God to bless? Or are you getting your plans from the Lord? How do you know the difference? If you can pull it off yourself, you don’t need God, they’re probably manmade or at the very least too small.
Whatever your plans, make them big enough they show off God to the world -- that God is a great God!

Prayer:

We've seen the sensitivity of the leader -- he cared about the things God cared about; the prayer life of a leader; and the planning of the leader. Heavenly Father, may we take our lives seriously and realize as You've said in Ephesians 5 to live life with a due sense of responsibility, not as men who do not know the meaning of life but as people who do. Lord, help us to make the best use of our time. And, as You said, to not be vague but to grasp firmly what we know to be the will of God. Lord, help us to think through where we're headed, to know the direction of our lives, to ponder the path of our going. Help us to be prepared for the opportunities You place before us. Help us to establish goals for our life and set deadlines and anticipate the problems and count the cost and apply these six principles of planning to our life this week. In Jesus' name. Amen.