Divine leadership between moderation and challenge

A rubber band is elastic, but if it is overstretched or brittle, it breaks quickly. In a way, when it comes to healthy conduction, you are like a rubber band that can be stretched and has the task of holding the contents together.

Healthy leadership means that your rubber band remains elastic under tension, i.e. you are neither understretched nor overstretched. You have your focus on Jesus, can react to challenging situations without losing your composure and pass them on to those around you. If you are underchallenged and slack as a rubber band, your workload is too low. Then you run the risk of looking for a compensatory activity that takes you away from your focus and leads to you neglecting the tasks assigned to you.

Where your limits are is individual, but the consequences of under- or overworking are similar for everyone. If you are overwhelmed because your workload is too high, you no longer have time for your needs and your frame of reference breaks. Both under- and overload can lead to health consequences such as frustration, exhaustion, stress, restlessness, boreout or burnout. Healthy guidance means keeping your elastic band elastic by clearly saying "no" to under- and overload. Say "no" to compensatory activities, say "no" to life at the limit. Instead, let God show you what tasks he puts on your heart.

Moses also struggled with excessive demands after he received the commission from God to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. When Moses reached his limits, and with it the people of Israel that he was leading, he said "no" by heeding the advice of his father-in-law Jethro. As a result, he handed over responsibility for some of his tasks to other people. Another time he said "no" by turning to God for help when he was overwhelmed by having to rebuke the people on his own. God provided him with people who took some of his work off his hands.

To be led in a healthy way means to place yourself and your scope of work under God's gaze at all times. Healthy leadership and guidance means letting Jesus lead you by taking you by the hand and carrying your tasks. He is responsible for you and the people entrusted to you and enables you to take responsibility within a healthy framework (Isaiah 40:11).

Next Step: Have a conversation with God and ask him in which areas you need to say no more often.