Coachables: Nehemiah

“We got that juice!” After I arrived in Jerusalem and had been there three days, I got up at night and took a few men with me. I didn’t tell anyone what my God had laid on my heart to do for Jerusalem. The only animal I took was the one I was riding. I went out at night through the Valley Gate toward the Serpent’s Well and the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire. I went on to the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but farther down it became too narrow for my animal to go through. So I went up at night by way of the valley and inspected the wall. Then heading back, I entered through the Valley Gate and returned. The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, for I had not yet told the Jews, priests, nobles, officials, or the rest of those who would be doing the work. So I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates have been burned down. Come, let’s rebuild Jerusalem’s wall, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.” I told them how the gracious hand of my God had been on me, and what the king had said to me. They said, “Let’s start rebuilding,” and they were encouraged to do this good work. (Nehemiah 2:11-18) “Juice”…It’s a slang term that means respect, influence, power, and authority. When someone says that you have juice, he is saying you’ve got something about you that causes you to stand out from the rest. It says that you are a person worth following because you know who are and where you are going. If anyone had “juice,” it was Nehemiah. He was a man who knew where he was going and what he needed to do. It’s hard to stop someone who knows the answers to those two questions. God had given Nehemiah a purpose and a plan; the king had given him permission and a posse; now it was up to Nehemiah to get the people ready for the project.. After arriving in Jerusalem, Nehemiah inspected the ruins of what used to be a wall around the city. Can you imagine what Nehemiah’s arrival had sparked throughout the region. A high-ranking official from the king’s court arriving with a large contingent of soldiers had to have caused some “juicy” gossip. For three days he said nothing of his intentions. One evening, Nehemiah got up and took a few men with him. He didn’t tell anyone what God had laid on his heart to do for Jerusalem. No one knew where he had gone or what he was doing, because he had not yet shared with the people the real reason for his arrival. In order for Nehemiah to truly get the people ready, he had to get a lay of the land. He had to see for himself the current reality of where Jerusalem was so that he could embrace reality. Knowledge is powerful; but knowledge without application is useless. It’s one thing to know what to do; it’s another thing entirely to do it. Derek Jeter was that kind of leader. Nicknamed “The Captain” by his teammates, A true professional and an outstanding leader, Derek Jeter is regarded as one of sports all-time great leaders. Despite a career spanning 20 seasons, Jeter almost never made headlines for the wrong reasons. No drug scandals or fights have ever troubled him, as he was 100% committed to the Yankees, where he won five World Series as shortstop. Jeter leads by example, and his stats speak for themselves; he played more than 2,700 games, with 260 home runs, a .310 batting average and a 0.377 on-base percentage. It was that level of performance which saw him play in 14 All-Star games and winning five Golden Glove and five Silver Slugger awards. It is said that he played the game the right way, and led his team every step of the way. \n Nehemiah could have had the same title. After a night of inspecting the enormous task of rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem, Nehemiah sat down with the leaders and high-ranking officials of the city. “So I said to them, ‘You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates have been burned down. Come, let’s rebuild Jerusalem’s wall, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.’ I told them how the gracious hand of my God had been on me, and what the king had said to me.” The response was simple but packed with power: “Let’s start rebuilding.” People know “juice” when they see it. And they will do just about anything to get a taste of it. They just need someone to lead them. Do you have “the juice?”