Leading God's Way: Wisdom for Nonprofit Board GovernanceSample

God has called our nonprofits to do great and mighty works for His glory, yet how we present the vision to our board of directors and the approach to our work is extremely consequential. Sometimes, people working with us who did not conceive the vision can become overwhelmed by the sheer vastness of what we are asking them to realize. So, if we really desire to knock down stereotypes and bust through glass ceilings, if we long to do Kingdom-building and Kingdom-business, if we hunger to be change agents and fire-starters for God, if we genuinely want to achieve that “big goal” or “unthinkable dream,” we must first understand the importance and effectiveness of breaking down the broad vision into smaller steps.

The opening act God did in the beginning, in Genesis 1, is He demonstrates to us how to develop a tactical plan for accomplishing goals. If you notice, God did not complete the full scope of creation in one day; He only finished part of the work, and then when He was done for the day, He simply stopped. Psalm 121:4 says that He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. So, God was not tired, and He didn’t need to sleep! The Lord could have established all of creation at one time, but God used this miraculous demonstration to show us a model for achieving our goals. As board leaders, it is our responsibility to govern with the wisdom of God and to discern when it is time to follow His pattern by taking off our boots and stopping work until the next appointed time.

Next, in this Scripture, we must also observe that God does not wait for the end result in order to celebrate. The Father evaluated His accomplishments day by day, and He celebrated the smaller goals as they were attained. Moreover, God does not concentrate on what He has left to complete; He doesn’t underrate Himself because of what has not yet been accomplished; instead, He looks at what He has just performed and celebrates Himself. God says, “IT --IS --GOOD.” This right here makes me want to just RUN, LEAP, AND HOLLER! Wait a minute, let me gather myself! You know, it’s awesome for people to honor your nonprofit organization and the work you do, but it should be perfectly fine if they don’t. You can look at what God has already done through you and celebrate yourself. You can look at what your board of directors has already accomplished, and you can celebrate them! No, the full vision may not have come to fruition YET, but thank God for the steps you all have made thus far!

Proverbs 1:5 says, A wise man will hear and will increase learning, and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels. Receive this wisdom!!! The journey of successful nonprofit leadership is all about leading God’s way. We must govern our boards with excellence and with godly wisdom.

I pray this devotional blessed you. If you would like more information about our nonprofit services and products, please visit our website.