[7] “I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I told them, “You are charging your own people interest!” So I called together a large meeting to deal with them.
Nehemiah 5:1-19.
Leadership is in pondering and speaking to our souls. There are systems that have entrapped us to its formalities but through having a meeting with ourselves, will enable us to break forth from the strings of the system and live a life outside of a system.
The welfare of people in Jews community wasn’t good, people were under slavery and deep hunger and poverty was under the people. The leaders within the community where the ones in favour of this system though it didn’t have any connection with the way of God. Nehemiah as a new leader in town, comes across this outcry and tries to reason with himself so as to see things in a different perspective which is according to the word of God. Nehemiah had a meeting with himself and he started seeing what was happening and what was not happening, what was needed and what was not needed, and made a decision after pondering it through.
When changing a system, or simply a way of living, the true change is not in other but can be found inside oneself after deep pondering on one’s life. The nobles and officials were the people overseeing the land of Israel; they were the people over the house of God but they ruled according to traditions not wanting to walk in the truth of the matter. Nehemiah never went to them first but keenly stayed within himself, thinking over what is happening in the land. This is because the nobles and officials were also part of the system, so asking advice from them will only entangle him in system with them.
Pondering with ourselves brings change of direction. Neither the nobles nor officials pondered on what was happening, this made them to remain in slavery in their souls and oppressed those they had authority over. In the parable of the lost son, the change in the young son happened when he had a meeting with himself (pondered). The younger son knew that I have no hope here neither is their life in this foreign land, it’s only back home where I can find these. We lose authority over things because we ran for things never wanting to have a time of thinking and reflecting. Opening wide the eyes of our hearts to see and analyzing the details of our journey, where we came from, where we are, and where we are going is the only way of having authority over our lives and possessing that which is ahead of us.
Having a time with our souls makes us to return and walk in the way of the Lord. It makes us to discern and separate other ways which may stand as the good and perfect ways but aren’t. The Jews were slaves to other nations but God redeemed them, so as they can be a nation again and live happily enjoying his supply. Nehemiah stood by the way of the Lord, to see people living in the freedom provided to them by God. Through thinking and reasoning in his soul, Nehemiah saw what the Lord had wanted for His people, and the way in which the Jews, the nobles and officials were walking in, which was opposite to the way of the Lord God.