Courage: Acting On Your Convictions
Leadership Matters, part 2 of 10
When God breaks your heart to develop a conviction, what do you do with that conviction? Well, if you are courageous, you act on it. In Nehemiah 2:1-10 we see how Nehemiah takes tremendous steps of courage to begin to act upon the burden or broken heart he experienced when he discovered that the walls of Jerusalem had were again in disrepair. With the courage that very few people demonstrate in life, he asked the very king that we worked for to help fund and furnish his journey to Jerusalem to build the walls. Amazingly, by the grace of God, the king honored his request. In this message we’ll look at how courage involves tremendous risk but when coupled with faith and God, leads to tremendous reward.
Download the notes.I) WHERE HAS ALL THE COURAGE GONE?
We typically do not act on our convictions because…
1) It requires too much ___COMMITMENT___.
2) There are too many ___OBSTACLES & PEOPLE___ in our way.
3) The ___RISK___ is too great.
Conviction gets choked out by a ___LACK OF COURAGE___.
II) WHERE DID NEHEMIAH FIND COURAGE?
Nehemiah’s Courage was not ___HIS OWN___ But From ___GOD___.
“The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.”
(Proverbs 21:1, NIV)
III) HOW NEHEMIAH USED GOD’S COURAGE
1) Tap Into God’s Courage Through ___PRAYER & FASTING___.
“For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.”
(Nehemiah 1:4b, NIV)
2) Use God’s Courage To Overcome ___FEAR___.
“In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before; so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.” I was very much afraid, but…”
(Nehemiah 2:1-3a, NIV)
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
(Joshua 1:9, NIV)
3) Use God’s Courage To ___PLAN WISELY AND ASK BIG___.
“The king said to me, ‘What is it you want?’ Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king, ‘If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it.’ Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, ‘How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?’ It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.”
(Nehemiah 2:4-6, NIV)
“I also said to him, “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?”
(Nehemiah 2:7, NIV)
“And may I have a letter to Asaph, 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?” And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.”
(Nehemiah 2:8, NIV)
“So I went to the governors of Trans-Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me.”
(Nehemiah 2:9, NIV)
4) Use God’s Courage To Focus On ___PURPOSE NOT PROBLEMS___.
“When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were very much disturbed that someone had come to promote the welfare of the Israelites.”
(Nehemiah 2:10, NIV)
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,who have been called according to his purpose.”
(Romans 8:28, NIV)
“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.”
(Psalm 26:3-4, NIV)