Godly Vision Needs Godly Wisdom

Currently at ZBC, we are in a teaching series in the book of Nehemiah. In the series we're looking at the vision God gave Nehemiah not to simply rebuild the wall around Jerusalem but to restore God's glory among His people & the nations. The vision that Nehemiah had was undoubtedly from God, but in Nehemiah 2 we see Nehemiah also exercise godly wisdom as he pursued God's vision. We see that godly wisdom played out clearly in three ways:

1) Prayer
Nehemiah soaked this vision from God in prayer. Nehemiah 1 is almost completely a prayer. In Chapter 2 when Nehemiah has the chance to finally present his vision to the king. He paused to pray before speaking. We also see that he took 4 to 5 months to pray for God's guidance as he prepared to present this vision to the king.

2) Planning
Nehemiah didn't just pray however. He planned. He asked God to give him an opportunity to speak to the king & to give him favor with the king, but it was up to Nehemiah to be ready to present the vision & the plan that would help the vision become reality. Prayer & planning aren't in opposition. They work together. Prayer asks God to do what our planning cannot, but planning helps us to be ready to do what we can.

3) Perspective
Nehemiah prayed & planned, but when he arrived in Jerusalem, he took some time to get the proper perspective of conditions on the ground. His plan may have been great, but it had been put together without having actually seen the city, the wall, or the people. So Nehemiah didn't just march into Jerusalem as if he had all the answers. He took time to get a grip on reality before bringing his vision & plan to the people.

All of this teaches us an important principle:

"A Godly Vision Must Be Directly Connected To Godly Wisdom."

You may have a vision from God for where you want to lead your family, or where you want to go in your career, or how you want to handle your finances, but are you pursuing that godly vision with godly wisdom? Why is this so important? It's important because typically the shortest distance between where you are & where you want to be involves compromise, & what's important is not merely wanting to get to the fulfillment of that vision, it's also to honor God along the way of pursuing that vision. Pursue God's vision for your life, your family, your career, & your ministry with passion, but make sure that passion is guided by godly wisdom so that God is glorified in your life with every step along the way.