Effective leaders possess the knack for seeing opportunities in circumstances. They see a clear picture of what the future can and ought to be. This is called “vision.” The book of Nehemiah offers some powerful principles about how vision begins and then how it grows.<\/p>\n\n
Vision begins with a need.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Nehemiah was a Jewish man in a high-profile government position in Persia. In 445 BC, he got a firsthand report about the Jewish remnant that had returned from captivity to the Promised Land. His questions surfaced some disturbing news. The Jewish remnant faced a shameful, unsafe situation: Jerusalem's walls were in shambles. Nehemiah wept because the need stirred his soul.<\/p>\n\n Visionary leaders see needs—and it moves them. These needs may even make them weep or pound the table: lost people, injustice, biblical illiteracy, families in financial trouble, or some other type of need.<\/p>\n\n Vision grows in prayer. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n Nehemiah was so moved by this need that he began to pray. Nehemiah's prayer in 1:5-11 shows him beginning with a confession of Israel's sin. He recognized the need to deal with the past before moving on. Nehemiah also reflected seriously on God's promises, which gave guidance to his vision. By the end of Nehemiah's prayer, he asked God for success.<\/p>\n\n A detail at the end of Nehemiah's prayer sheds light on his request. Nehemiah was the king's cupbearer—a key cabinet position in the Persian government. What Nehemiah prayed, then, was that God would turn his circumstances into opportunities.<\/p>\n\n Vision is born when a leader is so moved by a need that they ask God to turn circumstances into opportunities.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Vision is born when a leader is so moved by a need that they ask God to turn circumstances into opportunities. God responds by giving these leaders, as he did Nehemiah, a picture to pursue—a vision of how God can use them to meet that need.<\/p>\n\n\n