SHOW NOTES
The Leadership of Moses, pt8
Leadership in Context with Keith Tucci
Episode 158
All great leaders move in faith. All great leaders have vision. All great leaders understand that they have to operate over their heads. You will never be able to call people to do extraordinary things if you only operate ordinarily. The other side of that is knowing your limits and being clear about them. You don’t have to be a five-talent person to be used mightily by God.
Numbers 11:13-14
Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat that we may eat!’ I alone am not able to carry all this people, because it is too burdensome for me.
That is reality. That is not a whine or complaint. Every good leader understands that. Leaders want to exude God’s confidence and influence people, but they also need to know that in our natural abilities we are not able to meet the complex and diverse needs of people in and of ourselves.
Numbers 11:15
So if You are going to deal thus with me, please kill me at once, if I have found favor in Your sight, and do not let me see my wretchedness.”
Moses is saying that he can’t do it anymore. He is saying that if this is just designed to show him that he can’t do it, he gets it. Moses needs God; he needs more help. He isn’t depressed. He has an eternal perspective. He is willing to get out of God’s way and let God do something.
Numbers 11:16-17
The Lord therefore said to Moses, “Gather for Me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit who is upon you, and will put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it all alone.
God is saying that He did not design Moses to bear it alone. He is telling Moses that if he keeps doing it alone, it will kill him. God tells Moses to pick out the best people possible. Sometimes, people aren’t qualified until they are moved into a place where God can put His Spirit on them. Moses picked people who were willing to stand up against a bunch of rebels, and then God put His Spirit on them.
Moses knew his limitations in this scenario. There is a pattern throughout Numbers—almost every time Moses hits a wall, the answer God gives him is to multiply his leadership. Leaders multiply their strengths and make allowances for their weaknesses. Invest in people to multiply your strengths. Bring someone else in whose strength is your weakness.
Often in leadership circles, a leader will say they aren’t good at something and will decide that they just aren’t going to do it. This happens in churches. You end up with lopsided churches. You aren’t called to do everything. In fact, good leaders know how to say “no.” But there are certain things you have to have—administration, leadership training and developing, missions, vision. These are things you have to have, and if you aren’t good at them, you have to get someone who is. If you are good at it, you have to multiply that talent, which will produce diversification.
Rather than asking the Lord, “What should I do?” I ask the Lord, “What are You showing me?” Before I act--now that I’m a more seasoned leader--I ask God for the big picture, not just what needs to happen. Good leaders learn the ways of the Lord, not just what to do.
Join us next week as Keith Tucci continues to put leadership truth in the context of the local church. And as always, please like, share, rate/review, and invite others to listen. See you next week!
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