Stephen Edgecombe |25 September, 2018 |Devotional|

 

Have you ever met people who were filled with a ton of ideas but always leave the action to others?   Often many of them surely actionable but they lacked the initiative to act. They are the ones who say “somebody ought to do something” but just never think about the fact that they are somebody.

 

Nehemiah couldn’t imagine standing still when he heard of the broken walls. He had to act. He had a Popeye Moment – Something has to be done about the “broken down walls” and it might as well be me. That’s the essence of initiative

 

Initiative is defined as the ability to initiate things independently. The definition is only about getting started. Having initiative doesn’t mean you must know how everything will turn out. It doesn’t mean that you have to have all the answers to every question before you begin. You don’t have to know everything. You just need to know enough to act!

 

Nehemiah had insight into the project. He knew how long the project would take (v. 6) He knew how to get there (v. 7) He knew what he would need (v. 8) He knew God’s hand was upon him (v. 8) So he took action.

 

Don’t wait for someone else to go first. You go first!  Take action, take a risk, step into the unknown and see where it leads. If it doesn’t work out you’ve gained valuable experience, if it does work out you have gained at  a measure of success.   Somebody ought to do something about___________ and that somebody ought to be you!