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
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