I’ve had many roles in my 44 years:
• I’ve been an Assistant Manager of a national restaurant chain that employed over 50 employees and served hundreds of people per day.
• I managed a coffee shop that had people waiting to get in at 6 o’clock in the morning and was steadily busy until 11 o’clock at night and employed close to 35 full-time college students.
• I’m the husband to my graceful bride and the father to both of our unique-in-their-own-way children. (This is my most cherished and important role.)
You would think that leadership wouldn’t be something I struggled with. With all of that experience, it should come natural. I’m here to say that it didn’t come natural to me. In fact, I’ve always struggled being a leader. When I held the Assistant Manager position, it wasn’t just me. There was a team of individuals that came together to lead. At the coffee shop, I often relied on the leadership of the store owner to guide and direct which way I was to go. In our family, Sheila was forced to take a leadership role because, not knowing how to lead, I abandoned it early on.
In the past 5 years, God has been developing that leadership quality in me. Through the affirming whispers of the Holy Spirit and spending time in God’s Word, I’ve come to realize that I was designed to be a leader. I just never acknowledged it in my life. As this is meant to be a brief devotional and not a book, I’ll simply share a couple of insights that I’ve learned recently.
One of the first things I’ve learned is that if we are to lead effectively, we must be willing to humble ourselves. At home it could look like doing the dishes for someone, taking the garbage out without being asked or even scrubbing a toilet. Leading my family doesn’t mean that I tell my wife and kids what to do while I sit back and watch a Detroit Pistons game on the TV. It means that as a functioning member of the family, I provide physical and spiritual direction while doing anything and everything I would ask any other member of our family to do as well.
Jesus was an incredible example of this in scripture. God’s Word is full of examples of the humility of Christ, but what stirs in my heart as my fingers dance on the keyboard is when He washed the feet of the disciples. In John 13:14-17, the author quotes Jesus as saying:
14 And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. 15 I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. 16 I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. 17 Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.
Is Christ talking about physically washing each others feet? Yes and no. Yes, because it is a strong physical example of humbling of yourself to serve another. And no because it can also be used as a reminder for Christ’s disciples to lead and go forth with humble hearts. As I lead my family, it’s not just me making decisions that I think are right. I may be the physical leader in our home, but over the years I’ve learned to submit to my Savior and ask Him to guide me as I lead my wife and kids.
Secondly, knowing that I’ve never seen myself as a leader, I’ve been seeking heavenly guidance over some of the leadership responsibilities that are shifting towards me at work and at home. Recently, in a time of solitude, I felt the Holy Spirit put a phrase on my heart. He said to “Stand Firm in the Authority You’ve Been Given.”
The biggest leadership lesson I’ve been learning is in reference to the spiritual authority that has been placed on me (and you) by the Holy Spirit. Once the Holy Spirit baptizes us, we are filled with all of the authority and power of heaven. In Luke 10 Jesus sent out pairs of disciples throughout the land with instructions to pray throughout the cities. Verses 17-20 describe what happened when they returned.
17 When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, “Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!”
18 “Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! 19 Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you.”
No matter how many times I read it I’m still in awe when Jesus says that we have been given heavenly authority over the power of the enemy. The little whispers that would make me feel little and ineffectual are exactly that… little whispers from a foe who has already been defeated. For years I believed the mistruth that Satan was presenting me with. I believed that I wasn’t a leader. I believed that I’ve made too many mistakes to ever be an effective leader. The lie that leaders are on a pedestal because they’ve never made a mistake has been shattered. Through the unyielding power passed on to me through the Holy Spirit, I have the ability to vanquish any and all lies that the Creator of Deception throws my way.
What about you? Is leading a struggle for you? Do you believe the lies that I once believed as well? Fear not! For the Spirit that lives in you, is greater than the spirit that is in the world! So stand firm in the authority you’ve been given and boldly step where He is leading you.
Father God, Throughout our lives so many of us have believed the lie that we can’t lead. We’ve believed the falsehood that we will never rise to the level of authority that You’ve called us to. I ask that Your Spirit would continually remind us to rebuke the Creator of Lies and command him to leave by the power of Your Holy Name. Would you show each one of us what it means to stand in the authority we’ve been given by You? Thank you for the heavenly example of leading with humility that Christ showed while He walked this earth. Amen.
