Relational Challenges

Scripture — Nehemiah 1:1 (NRSV)

The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah. In the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in Susa the capital, one of my brothers, Hanani, came with certain men from Judah; and I asked them about the Jews that survived, those who had escaped the captivity, and about Jerusalem. They replied, “The survivors there in the province who escaped captivity are in great trouble and shame; the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been destroyed by fire.”

Devotion

Throughout the year, the De Pree Center adopts quarterly themes that shape our effort to equip you to live and work in a distinctively Christian way. You may remember some recent themes, including Redemptive Imagination (Spring 2023), Inner Work (Winter 2024), and Wisdom (Spring 2024). Our theme for Winter 2025 is Relational Challenges.

In the next two months, my Life for Leaders devotions will explore this theme. As usual, I’ll base my devotions on Scripture. For weeks I’ve been wondering which Bible passages to use. There are literally hundreds of biblical texts that deal with relational challenges. So, if I’m going to write on this theme for two months and not two years, I’ll need to be selective.

While mulling over the “which passages” question, I had the opportunity to read the manuscript of a timely new book called When Work Hurts. This book, written by my De Pree Center colleague Dr. Meryl Herr, examines different ways in which our work can be physically, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually painful. Yet Meryl doesn’t leave us in the pain. Rather, she helps us find ways to be resilient when work hurts so that we might heal, grow, and thrive. (When Work Hurts will be released on March 11, 2025, by the way. You can pre-order it here.)

One of the things I appreciate about When Work Hurts is Meryl’s thoughtful use of Scripture. Her book focuses especially on the exile and return of the Israelites as found in several Old Testament books. Most of all, Meryl draws wisdom from Ezra and Nehemiah. Her book reminded me of the diverse relational challenges found in these biblical writings. In particular, the book of Nehemiah portrays a wide variety of relational challenges and shows how a wise, godly leader might constructively deal with them. Thank you, Meryl, for pointing me back to Nehemiah, a book I studied extensively 30 years ago when I wrote a commentary on Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. You have encouraged me to focus on Nehemiah as I write devotions about relational challenges.

Nehemiah, the author of the book bearing his name, faced an almost insurmountable challenge. Though he was living in Persia and serving the Persian king, he was deeply moved by the destruction of the wall surrounding Jerusalem. In the ancient world, a city without walls was utterly vulnerable to all kinds of devastation and disgrace. Thus, Nehemiah, a Jewish man who loved his homeland, yearned to see the wall rebuilt.

Rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem was certainly a colossal challenge. In one way it was a physical challenge, of course. But it’s not as if Nehemiah could have rebuilt the wall by himself. Rather, he needed hundreds of people to help him in this endeavor. Thus, for Nehemiah, rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem was a mammoth, multidimensional relational challenge.

In the weeks to come, we’ll look closely at some of the relational challenges Nehemiah faced. I expect that many of these will feel quite familiar to you. Your life setting differs greatly from that of Nehemiah, of course. But the relational challenges he faced and how he dealt with them will feel strangely common and contemporary.

If you’d like to get a head start thinking about the relational challenges in Nehemiah, you can read the Old Testament book named in his honor. Though it has thirteen chapters, my devotions will draw mainly from chapters 1-8.

Also, as we begin this devotional series together, why don’t you start reflecting on some of the relational challenges in your life and work? Think and pray about how you might respond to these challenges in a distinctively Christian way, following the example of Nehemiah, not to mention the life and teachings of Jesus.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Bridging the Sacred-Secular Divide (Nehemiah 1:1-1:10).