Joshua: Leading Wherever You AreSample

Do you hate waiting as much as I do? It feels like such a waste of time, right? We’re ready to get out there, to do big things! Maybe you’re currently leading a small crew instead of the amazing team you’d like to have, or perhaps the only one you’re leading is currently spitting up on your shoulder. 

But this is the first and most important lesson of leadership: We must hand over our plans to Christ to handle and remember that it is God who is the ultimate Leader. His timing is perfect, and He has a purpose in the wait: He is forming our character and making us ready for whatever He’s leading us into. His goal is not for us to move into leadership quickly but rather for our heart, character, and circumstances to align with His will. 

We see this clearly in Joshua’s life: God spent many years preparing him for leadership. The reason? Preparation is vital because the quality of a leader affects the quality of all generations that follow, and we see this in the life of Joshua when we meet him for the first time in Exodus 17.

Moses obviously knew Joshua well. In fact, Moses trusted the younger man’s wisdom and discernment so much that he tasked Joshua with selecting warriors for battle against the Amalekites. As time continues, we notice Moses selected Joshua not only as a close confidant but as someone he wanted to invest in and train up to lead the next generation. With God as his ultimate Leader, Moses kept Joshua close to him for decades, teaching him all the while.

Developing the next generation is one of the most important aspects of leadership. In the book of 2 Timothy, Paul is instructing Timothy to pass along the gospel to the next generation. His advice to Timothy provides us with some great insights about what it looks like to mentor other leaders. 

No matter where we lead—at home, in our church, in our community, or in our workplace—let’s be mindful of who we’re leading. And who’s leading us. Let’s learn from the wisdom of others and pass along what we’ve learned.