Being a Leader...

Hebrews 12:12-13

“So take a new grip with your tired hands and stand firm on your shaky legs. Mark out a straight path for your feet. Then those who follow you, though they are weak and lame, will not stumble and fall but will become strong.”

What a privilege it is to be a leader! That is something I think of every now and then. To have the ability to shape and mold young lives for God’s purpose and for His acclaim. However, it isn’t always easy, as one of Matt Janes’ messages reminded me. We easily can get “tired hands” and “shaky feet” doing what we do (along with fifty other things on our plates!). But one thing God has encouraged my heart about is to take a new grip…whether it be believing God to move in young peoples' lives or anything else that we’ve been becoming weary in. In spite of our shakiness and tiredness God wants us to take a firm grip again on the things He’s called us to be and do in the lives of those around us and in the ministries we are a part of.

“Mark out a straight path” reminds me that we are to set a precedence for these people. In Matthew 7:14 it says, “But the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it.” We as leaders have to mark that straight or narrow path out in order to set the example. We have a chance to help “a few” find it by doing this! As leaders we are never free of prying eyes and influencing the young. We need to walk it in order for them to Lord willing follow it. I love the promise at the end of Hebrews 12: 12-13.

The whole point of being a leader, in God's service, is to see the Lord strengthen, challenge and grow those we mentor and lead. If we stand in God’s strength, helping each other to stand, and if we mark out and walk in that straight path, then God PROMISES that He WILL make strong those who are weak and lame (spiritually or otherwise, those who follow us, those who we shepherd. ISN’T THAT THE WHOLE REASON WE ARE DOING WITH THEM WHAT WE ARE DOING?? To see them grow strong not in our strength, but in God’s mighty POWER?! Thank you for being with me through this journey. God is doing great things, and I’m praying that He continue to help us and compel us to stand in the gap for those around us. They are our friends, family, co-workers, etc, and to know them and serve them is an amazing privelege!!

Young men from a village orphanage in Ukraine. They are the future leaders of Europe.