Welcome to the Lessons in Leadership Series! To get caught up, click here.

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Let’s talk ideas today. Serving in a leadership position of any kind more often than not means you will be able to implement new ideas for the betterment of your business, ministry, home or group.

I’ve said it before and I will say it again: I am an idea person. I love coming up with new ideas, hearing new ideas, embracing new ideas, learning about new ideas, setting aside parts of my week to dream about new ideas . . . Well, you get the picture.

My current favorite quote is about this very thing.

“If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.” ~George Bernard Shaw

The Lord has wired me to love the exchange of ideas.

In leadership the question we ask ourselves should not be Is this a good idea? but Is this an idea worth pursuing?

There is a big difference between the two.

A few years ago I did a study on the life of Nehemiah. You’re probably familiar with his story in Scripture. Nehemiah hears this horrible report on the state of Jerusalem and the people of God and is distraught. He weeps, mourns, fasts and prays for days confessing the sins of Israel.

For days Nehemiah humbles himself before the Lord. And then suddenly in verse 11 of chapter 1 we see a turn in the prayer. It goes from mourning to mission.

Nehemiah prays, “make Your servant successful today and grant him compassion before this man.”  What man is that? Well, verse 11 goes on to say, “[Nehemiah] was cupbearer to the king.”

What exactly was Nehemiah asking the Lord to make successful? Chapter 2 answers that question.

Nehemiah says to the king, “”If it pleases you and if your servant has found favor in your sight, send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it.”

Ladies, this is huge. This means that while Nehemiah was praying after first hearing about the state of his beloved city, the Lord began to give him a vision – an idea, if you will – to head on out and rebuild it.

The part we need to zoom in on? Nehemiah waited on the Lord before jumping into this vision.

So often we get great ideas, ideas that even have major potential for ministry, but if we are not waiting on the Lord to bring those ideas/visions to life . . . we might as well wrap it up now and call it a day.
How do we know when an idea is from the Lord? When it is worth our pursuit?

After an idea strikes, I ask myself the following six things as I wait on Him for confirmation:

• Am I in God’s will?
• Am I doing the work God has called me specifically to?
• Am I seeking God’s ways?
• Am I walking in accordance to God’s Word?
• Am I offering “whatever & everything I do” for God’s glory?
• Am I dressed in the wardrobe of worship? See Colossians 3:12-14

If we want to be women who serve God and His kingdom effectively and excellently, these questions need to be asked.

How do you know if that awesome idea you have is worth pursuing?

Answering these six questions as you wait on the Lord – just as Nehemiah – may just start you out on the right track.

Next week, let’s talk about ideas we do get the definite go-ahead with just like Nehemiah did and how to go about implementing them with excellence.

I can’t wait! This is, after all, my most favorite topic.