Leadership: Waiting on God

Number 20: 12 And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.

Do you realize that Moses led the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt to a desert. And the Hebrews were upset with Moses' leadership because they were stuck in the desert for an entire generation. But Moses must have been a strong leader because even though he did not reach Canaan, the next generation did, just as God promised.

What does this have to do with leadership? Well, do you think you are a strong enough leader to face the people who followed you into a promise and tell them that you are waiting on God? Essentially, that's what Moses did. But what I find interesting is that the topic of leadership is marketed very strongly in today's society. Universities, corporations, and book stores are all capitalizing on the idea of leadership. Everyone wants to develop strong leaders, but no one wants to do it alone. I have heard someone go as far as to say that if you have no followers than you are not truly a leader. Well, that sounds correct, but it is really a bogus claim. Jesus Christ had no followers at one point in time. Noah had no followers up until the point that he locked the doors on the ark and watched the world drown out around him. So are we to think that Jesus, Noah, and Moses were not leaders?

Okay so following is an important concept when it comes to leadership. I do not think you can be a leader without following. You have to follow something or someone. In my provided examples, these leaders were following God. I believe that following anything else is a hopeless situation. There are even clear biblical examples of what happened to people who chose to follow something besides God. The Tower of Babel is one example. You can read about that later, but I'll tell you that those people became as the scattered sands on a playground after a hurricane.

Another thing that is highly important is vision. You have to know where you are going, but you cannot see without a message from God. So some of us would call this faith. Perhaps this is the reason why the scripture says faith without works is dead. Faith comes from God, and it is impossible to please God without Faith. But what happens when we are acting purely on faith and there seems to be no message from God? Do we make something up and move forward with a lie? Or do we wait on the Lord until we receive a word from God?

I know that self-appointed leaders place a lot of pressure on themselves to keep "congregation" happy. People need constant communication otherwise they leave. So these leaders have a problem when God they stop hearing from God. If you are not hearing from God it can be one of two reasons: 1. You are not listening to Him or 2. God is choosing not to speak for a purpose. In either case you need to continue praying to God and waiting for a Word from Him.

I think the concern that you now have is what should you do about the people who are following you? Well, that is a good question, but if you are asking this question than you may have the whole role of leadership wrong. Those people should not actually be following you; you are not God. Of course, God may have appointed you as a leader of many people and he may have asked those people to follow you as if you were God, but you are not actually God. So when God is still you should be still and so should the people who follow you.

Exodus 4:12 (KJV) Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say

Mark 13:11 (KJV) But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.
Leadership is about being a consistent follower of God. Will you wait on God and depend on the Holy Ghost to speak for you? If you are interested in learning more about leadership you should read more from the Bible about Moses, Noah, and Jesus. Specifically, read more about Jesus hanging on the cross while the people who crucified Him were demanding that He save himself as He had saved and performed many miracles for others. Why did Jesus not save Himself? Because He was waiting on God.

Read a brief article by Matt Slick, President and Founder of the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry, about why Moses did not enter the promised land. 

http://carm.org/questions/about-people/why-couldn%E2%80%99t-moses-enter-promised-land

Where is your talent invested?

Have you ever read the parable of the ten coins? If not, you can read it in Luke 19:11-27. This parable has always reminded me of the importance of working diligently in every task that we are given, whether at home, work, or in the community. In our lives it is inevitable that we do not report to someone who holds us accountable to our actions or whom we must commit to in performance. Sometimes those people seem to be just like the nobleman from the parable. For example, maybe a boss who does none of the work, but takes all of the credit. Well, we know that this life is temporary at best. As Christians we ought to devote ourselves to sharing the Gospel, or The Great Commission as it is mainly recognized. All other things that happen to us on earth are vanity. However, we are still human and we will still be given opportunities of earthly value, such as a promotion or a great opportunity for recognition. So the question that you must ask yourself is, "Where are you investing your talents?" Are you investing your talents in a place that will reap dividends? Or are you simply burying your talents in the ground because you don't want someone else to receive the rewards that you think you deserve.

I believe that there are two concepts that are important to a successful life: contentment and complacency. We must be content with what we are given, and we must not stay complacent with our ability to do better. Additionally, we must constantly remind ourselves of Colossians 3:22 and Ephesians 6:5-9. We must obey our earthly masters (a.k.a. your boss at work/parents/leaders) and if we are the earthly master than we must show our servants respect (a.k.a. your employees/children/patrons). I will add this one reminder that we are referring to earthly matters and not spiritual matters in these two scriptures because spiritually we only have one master who we can serve.

To conclude this post, I invite you to consider your own performance and personnel. Are there any areas of your life that you need to re-invest your talents in? Do your best to think about this with a renewed mind and be sure to pray to God. It may take some time for you to identify and correct any bad investments or talents that are just sitting on the shelf collecting dust. You may have to re-adjust your time commitments so that you can allocate your resources properly.

For more information about maintaining balance you should read more scriptures. Perhaps the book of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes would be a good starting place.

God honors faith; hope is for the mind of men

Defining Faith

What is faith, and why is it so important to the survival of the supernatural being? Merriam-Webster.com defines faith as "strong belief or trust in someone or something." God honors faith. This statement made me question where faith comes from. Many people argue their faith as if it belongs to them, but according to the definition of faith, it belongs to someone else. That someone else can be anyone, so it does not have to be God, or a deity of any kind; however, according to the Bible God never falls short of his glory, and his glory is to keep his promise. His promise is the faith that he bestows upon us. So for the sake of this post I am choosing to focus on Faith in God.

Have you ever heard or used this the word faith to describe your trust in someone else? I reference faith all the time, especially when I say, "I trust God." There can be no faith without evidence of trust. Before one can trust, there must be a promise to accept. Now, if we consider that salvation is the promise that God gave us, then we should realize that faith is a matter of eternal relevance. For this reason, faith cannot be honored until we experience death. This is why faith is highly important to the survival of our supernatural being. Here's a question, "What proof exist that faith will be honored?" Well, we could turn to the bible for this answer. Hebrews 12:2 says that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. Why? Because He showed the world that there is life after death. Jesus Christ is the only security that a believer needs that God will honor faith.

Faith versus Hope

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1, English Standard Version). What does it mean to hope? Have you ever hoped for something? Merriam-Webster.com defines hope as "to want something to happen or be true and think that it could happen or be true." So hope is purely personal. Hope belongs to the individual, regardless of who are what is in control of the end result. You can hope for warmer weather and lower taxes, but you'd be a half-baked cake if you did not pursue assurance for your hopes.

I think that is important to note that both faith and hope are action words, also known as verbs. Do you realize that faith without works is meaningless (James 2:17). Also, "without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6, King James Version). What does this mean? It means that God will not honor the faithless. It means that hope is not enough to please God. God does not care about what you want to be true because He is truth.

Obtaining Faith

What must you do to obtain faith? The answer is simple. You must seek God. Then your faith will be the evidence of the things you hope for. What should you hope for? Perhaps you should hope to experience the reward of God's honor, also known as faith. Hope for the strength to endure. Hope for things that bring peace to your mind, but have faith in God; He is the author and finisher of your faith.

References:

Faith. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved January 30, 2014, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/faith

Hope. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved January 30, 2014, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hope