God's Help for Leaders

The Lord told Joshua, “Today I will begin to make you a great leader in the eyes of all the Israelites. They will know that I am with you, just as I was with Moses. (Joshua 3:7 NLT)


John Maxwell, in his book, the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You, writes that the foundation of leadership is trust. The leader's ability to lead is contingent on the trust followers have in them. He illustrates this dynamic using what he called a trust account. As leaders display competence, make good decisions, show character and accumulate results, the balance of the trust account grows but it declines when the opposites of these are displayed by the leader.

For most beginning leaders, the trust balance usually starts low. While the position of the leader might be respected, their influence and acceptance by followers might be limited. One of the gifts a leader in such a position could get is a crisis moment where they are forced to demonstrate leadership competence. Such a moment offers the new leader the opportunity to cross a threshold in the minds of their followers and thus increase their leadership clout. At such moments, leaders can rely on God to come to their aid and to confirm their leadership through supernatural grace for results.

In our text, Joshua was at such a seminal moment in his leadership. The people had accepted him as their leader but his leadership was yet unproven. His performance at the crossing of the Jordan would be the moment that would either begin to cement his greatness as a leader or start to erode it. His trust bank account would either get on the bankruptcy or overflow path. Good thing God was there to assist him. God promised him that he would confirm his leadership that day and he did. When Moses' and Aaron's leadership was challenged by rebels, God vouched for them by dealing with the rebels and causing Aaron's rod to bud (Numbers 16& 17).

If you are in any God-appointed leadership position (and most people are), you can rely on the same assistance that Joshua got from God to put in you in a position where your leadership is honored and respected, giving you momentum and thus making your work easier. Maybe you lead a family, an organization, a business or any other entity. God can make you a respected leader. If he called you to do it, he can vouch for you by bestowing on you his wisdom and grace. He can demonstrate his approval of your leadership by helping you to accomplish impossible results in crisis situations thus garnering the respect and cooperation you need for momentum and multiplied results. You can rely on God to help you in your leadership. He can help you overflow your leadership trust account. Solomon recognized this when he asked God for wisdom. Why don't you do the same? You can be a great God-made leader.


Decision of the Day

I understand that God can help me in my leadership. He can make me a great leader. I will depend on him in my leadership responsibility.