Leading By Stooping

As I was reading the book of Nehemiah this morning I came across a very interesting verse in chapter 3. To provide some context, Nehemiah was told that the wall of Jerusalem and its gates were destroyed by fire. When he heard this terrible news he sat down, wept, mourned, fasted and prayed. In other words he had a deep burden and he petitioned God.

God answered his prayers by creating a path for him to lead a God-inspired vision to rebuild Jerusalem. He communicated the vision to the people and inspired them to join him where God was already working.

Chapter 3 gives an account of all the families that joined in the rebuilding effort. Each family was responsible for rebuilding a portion of the wall and gates. It's a fairly boring read through all the names of the people that helped to rebuild Jerusalem. At least it was boring until I came upon a few key words in verse 5 - "...but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord." BOOM! There it was right in the middle of listing all the leaders that were leading by example, working hard to acheive a monumental task - nobles (leaders) not willing to get in with the rest of the team to serve their Lord. Ouch!

If you're a vision caster, be willing to leave the strategic stratosphere and stoop down to actually work alongside your team of leaders to achieve the vision. Extraordinary leaders stoop to every level to serve their Lord and their team of leaders. Be an extraordinary leader today by doing a little less standing and a little more stooping.