Exodus 17 gives us insight into the leadership difficulties of Moses. In verse 4 it says:
So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “What shall I do to this people? A little more and they will stone me.”
If you’ve been in a leadership position for any length of time you too will have uttered this question heavenward like Moses; “What shall I do to this people?”.
You’ve toiled hard, you’ve done what you believe is right to do, you’ve given your best. But still the people you lead are far from where you believe they need to be.
We ask ‘Lord, what am I to do with these people?’ Mercifully, the Lord responds in verse 5-6:
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
1. “Pass before the people” – Go ahead of the pack. Take time to get away from the immediacy of your situation and it’s demands and get out ahead. Go the place where you can meet alone with God and in that secret place receive perspective, insight and wisdom for your leadership of the people.
2. “Take with you some of the elders” – Don’t go alone. Who has God put around you? They may not be elders. They may not be who you want them to be. But who do you have? Determine to take the loyal, the faithful and those of strong character with you on the journey.
3. “Take in your hand your staff” – Take what’s in your hand. What has God given you? What has God used in the past? What is God blessing in your life now? Take that with you on the journey and allow God to build with it. Take it also as an encouragement, the Lord “will stand before you”
4. “Strike the Rock” – What is God telling you to do? Do it with radical obedience! Use what’s in your hand and put it to use according to the Word of the Lord to you. Obey the Word of the Lord with expectation for the miraculous. Follow through the faith-filled aggression and confidence and see the breakthrough come as a result.
May Jesus the rock, the Living water be the source of your breakthrough!
Reading site is bringing me a peaceful feeling. Thank you, I volunteered at a neighbor church food bank.