Joshua 1:6-9 NLT
“Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. 8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. 9 This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Leading can be very difficult. There are stories throughout the Bible of men and women who chose to lead others in the direction of God and what is best. Often they would struggle with things that seemed far to difficult for anyone to have to contend with.
Let me remind you today of a few facts. All of these are based on the presupposition that many of us, if not all of us, are called by God to be leaders. Lead at home. Lead at your office or school. Lead at church and in youth community.
Leading isn’t easy. What is worth having is worth working for. If it were easy, everyone would do it. The harder the task and the circumstance the greater the gain and the satisfaction.
Those sentences sound like cliches’ or something out of a book or article. But what I found is that they come from the Bible. Leaders must listen and be confident in their calling from God.
Take a few minutes to read those verses once again. The ones at the start of this e-devotion.
Courage is important. Keep on. People are counting on you to not give up.
Be careful. Listen well and respond right. There is much at stake. Lives are in the balance. Lead on.
Study the play book. Yes, that would be the Bible. We need to know our leader. We need to know the situation around us. We need to study and be ready so we will keep going.
We aren’t alone. God is with us. He is always with us. God holds our success.
What God told Joshua was also for you and me. It was something Joshua needed to hear because there were so many people who needed God and so many people counting on Joshua. The same might be well for you and for me.
Recently I was talking to a friend that made a statement that continues to ring in my mind and heart. He said “stay on the wall”. That is a reference to Nehemiah.
Nehemiah was involved in helping God’s people be renewed and strengthened. He was helping rebuild the wall and Jerusalem. Yet so many people were trying to distract Nehemiah and stop the work. Listen to how this man responded.
Nehemiah 6:2c-3 NLT
But I realized they were plotting to harm me, 3 so I replied by sending this message to them: “I am engaged in a great work, so I can’t come. Why should I stop working to come and meet with you?”
Be courageous. Stay on the wall. Many are counting on you.
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