God’s Masterful Leadership
God is the wisest leader of all leaders. He’s the most brilliant shepherd of all shepherds. His leadership guarantees the production of all that we were destined to be if we heed it. Jeremiah 29:11 says I know the thoughts I have for you…to give you a future and a hope.
He has a perfect destiny for us. He thinks of it often and has great zeal for us to walk into all that He has for us. He wants this for my life way more than I do. This brings confidence to my heart; that my Leader has greater zeal than I do for me to finish the course of life and arrive at all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19).
This hope and future that is spoken of in Jeremiah is awakened in us when we’re first born again. We exclaim to everyone, “God has a plan for me! My life matters! I’m important to God!” We have been awakened to bigger plans, higher wisdom and the knowledge of God.
As I think of His leadership and how He molds and fashions us into this plan and brings us to being the most fruitful in our love and work I’m stunned with how He does it. It’s so “upside down” and so different compared to our natural way of doing life and leadership.
Consider this verse in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10…My strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities (weaknesses) that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 … For when I am weak then I am strong (NKJ). The Message reads it like this, The weaker I get, the stronger I become.
This is a powerful verse. Think about it. The strength of Jesus is made perfect upon us in the place of embracing weakness. Beloved this is His destiny for us. This is what He would have for us. This is His perfect future and the hope He has for us referenced from Jeremiah. It’s within our reach, to walk in the perfect strength and hope of Christ.
So what about this “weakness”? What’s that about? The weakness that Paul is speaking of is not moral weakness. He’s rather speaking of a weakness that causes humility, dependency, and poverty of spirit. In Matthew 6 Jesus speaks of many godly choices that will cultivate weakness into us. They include fasting, prayer, giving, blessing and living simple.
Inevitably, if these choices are embraced on a consistent basis, weakness will be a part of our life. It’s in this weakness that God leads us into greatness and fullness of His might. He molds us and perfects His strength upon us. Each choice is a form of fasting, in that we are voluntarily embracing weakness by submitting our strengths into God’s hands and trusting Him to answer us His way, in His time and in His power.
In giving, we fast our money, which is our financial strength. In serving and prayer, we are fasting our time and energy, investing it in others and in time to pray. In blessing those who offend us, we fast words and reputation. Fasting from food is not primarily a call to hunger but to physical weakness. We must embrace these choices long term. No one graduates from this lifestyle.
Remind yourself; God’s strength is made perfect in weakness. His power WILL rest upon me in the place of embracing godly weaknesses. This reminder motivates us to embrace weakness instead of avoiding it.
His leadership is “upside down” and different. Take fasting food for example. You go without food for a day or two and about midday of that 2nd day your foggy in the head. You can’t collect your thoughts well. You fumble your words. You have a headache and you’re agitated easily. All you can think about is eating some food so you can attain strength and function like you know you can do. This is the point. We’re challenged in our pride and in our own strength.
We think that we’ll be “better” in life if we can just remain in “our” strength. God’s leadership requires a different approach. He says to me, “Actually Wes, you’ll be a better leader, a better husband and a better father when you embrace weakness so that My strength may be your strength.” At that moment I’m confronted with the way He leads. He leads me into weakness and as I embrace it I come out strong.
Upside down isn’t it? He says in 1 Corinthians 1:27 God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty. Fasting food, praying to an invisible God who already knows what I’m going to say, speaking only blessing to those that mock and hate me, giving my time and energy when there’s no benefit to me, all these are “so-called foolish things and weak things” yet God calls them the mighty and wise ways of His Kingdom.
In our weakness, He will perfect and lead us into His power and strength. His leadership is masterful.
Consider this.
Be blessed,
Wes