Lead WellSample

Leadership is...

You can finish this sentence with thousands of responses, each idea traveling a variety of directions. In other words, there are a lot of right ways to finish the sentence, “Leadership is...” Lately, the way that I finish the sentence is to say, “Leadership is paying attention.” As someone who has struggled with ADD for years, this has been an interesting lesson. Even finding enough focus to finish this devotional entry has been a challenge. So, just to be sure we’re on the same page, once again: Leadership is PAYING ATTENTION!!!

In Mark 5:24-34, Jesus is with His disciples in a crowd. The crowd was pressing in tight, bumping into each other, they were all trying to get close to Jesus; to the point that it would be nearly impossible to identify any one person touching them.

But we’re talking about Jesus here!

Jesus stopped. He knew someone had touched Him, and not in the way that everyone else had touched Him. This time, He felt power flow out of Him. The woman who touched Him had been dealing with a life-controlling affliction where she had been losing blood for years. The theme of this narrative typically highlights the woman’s faith: “If I just touch His clothes, I will be healed.” [v.28]

Her thoughts became faith...faith that if she touched Jesus she would be healed. Let’s sidetrack from the woman’s faith and onto Jesus’ response. Jesus turned around in the midst of a crowd and singled out this woman for her affliction and her faith. Jesus was PAYING ATTENTION!!!  He could have unintentionally passed her by, and we may have never heard the rest of her story. Instead, Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” Jesus’ life and ministry are marked by paying attention to people and meeting their needs.  

Too often we get caught up pressing through the crowd, going about our business, and we forget to pay attention.  We get so focused on the task at hand that we can quickly neglect the people that God has called us to care for.  Whether it is something as simple as remembering a birthday, knowing their favorite drink at Starbucks, showing up to a soccer game, or putting a student’s upcoming driving test in your phone as a reminder…PAY ATTENTION!!! These things can make a huge difference in the lives of the people we lead.  Let them know how you lead and how you care by PAYING ATTENTION.

1. THINK ABOUT IT Is there something positive that you have noticed in someone that you lead? Call it out!

2. REFLECT What is Jesus calling you to in regards to taking better care of His people? How can you improve in the areas of being more aware of others and their needs?

3. PRAY Take some time to pray for the people in your circle–that God would give you eyes to see them the way that He does, and to acknowledge the small things in their lives in order to make a difference.