by Linzy Slayden
Nehemiah is one of my favorite books in the Bible because it is the first book on leadership ever written. In it I see some principles that can apply today in the BBFI.
Nehemiah is the expert wall rebuilder in the Bible. For 90 years Jerusalem sat in ruins. The city walls had been destroyed. The gates had been burned and the people were totally demoralized. And then the Lord brought a man named Nehemiah into the picture. This man faced what seemed to be an impossible task, an unsolvable problem, an unbelievable challenge, and that situation became his finest hour. What can we learn from him today?
Even though God has given us an incredible opportunity, we are facing some problems. Someone has said, “Understanding the problem is half the solution,” and we need to confront some facts. We are a Fellowship of pastors-churches-missionaries working together to accomplish what we cannot effectively accomplish individually. The BBFI family has seen great success and growth but there have been challenges and changes, and the result is that we are not as broad and deep as we once were, but we are not dry bones!
Ronald Reagan once said, “America is too great for small dreams.” I feel that way about our Fellowship. Or Fellowship has many resources with which to accomplish great things for God. We can and will if we focus on the principles of God’s Word, win souls, start and build churches, send missionaries, and stop arguing about minor issues.
Among the lessons we learn from Nehemiah is you can’t solve a problem that you run away from. You can look at the situation in one of two ways. You can stand on the sideline and say, “Things really ought to be different,” or you can get into the game and say, “How can I help make a difference?”
When God wants to accomplish a work, He always prepares His workers and puts them in the right place at the right time. That is why Nehemiah said in his prayer, “Make your servant successful today.” Nehemiah didn’t pray, “God, send a miracle.” He said, “God, send me.” He didn’t pray for a miracle. He prayed for an opportunity.
Dreamers dream about things being different. Leaders determine to make a difference. You see, the greatest ability that Nehemiah had was availability. There are no problems that people can’t solve, but there are people unwilling to solve them.
This is a Nehemiah moment for the BBFI. I am asking you to roll up your sleeves and help rebuild the walls of the BBFI. I am asking pastors to pray for 2013 to be a year of growth for the BBFI. Every state fellowship can work their plan to start new churches, reach out to those pastors who aren’t or haven’t been connected to the BBFI in a long time, attend the national meetings, pray for more missionaries, and encourage our ranks to build greater works for the Lord. We have the opportunity. Let’s take advantage of it.