Studying in Joshua this morning and it gave me a great opportunity to reflect on how we (society) define leadership and success in the world, versus how we define these two things Biblically as Christians.
God gave success to the Israelites when they obeyed His plan and not their own.
Victory came when they trusted in the Lord; not in their own military or material wealth.
Just this week I had the opportunity to present for a speaking engagement as the Executive Director of the non-profit I work for. The group we were speaking for had chosen three non-profits to present and one of those would be awarded a nice donation to their program.
Leading up to this event I found myself asking the Lord to use this as an opportunity to glorify Himself in some way. I asked the Lord to help me lead with grace and humility and for His Will to be done EVEN IF that meant my program not being chosen.
In the past, I had the tendency to only consider an opportunity successful based on the accolades gained. I would burn myself out from exhaustion and the pressure to perform perfectly to a standard that no human is capable of. Thankfully, Christ has freed me from all of that. It is not through I but in Him that all things are accomplished.
I did lead with grace, the Lord blessed me with wisdom, and my program DID NOT get chosen for the award but the program who had the greatest need DID. After the presentations and awarding I was able to genuinely congratulate and celebrate the winner, something that I noticed not every leader did. As I was packing to leave several individuals came up with personal donations of their own to my program and while this amount was less than what the award would have been, the hearts behind the giving was MORE.
Isn’t that just like God to double the blessing, to take what little we have to give and to fill our cups until they are overflowing.
It is key that we pursue God’s standard for success rather than the world’s. Worldly success is subjective and never satisfied, success in the Lord is true and never changing.
D.L. Moody wisely said, “Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at something that doesn’t really matter.”
Success equates obedience! Success is not controlling others but it is allowing yourself to be controlled by God! Our examples of success comes from God’s word. Biblical success is evidenced by humility, grace, wisdom, and patience.
This mornings passage also gave me some reflection on leadership. Joshua is an example of an excellent leader. Joshua was confident in God’s strength and this made him courageous in the face of opposition and kept him seeking God’s advice!!
Strong leaders are led by God.
Joshua taking over as leader following Moses’s death had to be difficult for the people; as it is for any of us when we go through leadership changes. As a society we have seen the difficulties of leadership changes nationally – and locally. With this we have seen how those of the world have responded and the contrast of how those who are in Christ have responded. Christians have the hope that is stored up in Christ, Christians have the cross.
A few Biblical principles that we can remember when we are struggling with what the world is calling “leadership” and “success”.
1. God’s leadership can always be trusted. (Isaiah 48:17-18).
2.Whomever He appoints over us, we are called to pray for them. (1 Timothy 2:1-3)
3. We are called to submit to God’s Word as the ultimate authority, be subject to our governing authorities, (Romans 13:1) and follow godly leaders as they follow Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1)
Act today on what you know God has said, and He will assure your success in carrying out His purposes!
Joshua 24:15, “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord”.
The Meek Momma 
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