Lead Strong: Leadership Lessons From The Bible - Part 3Sample

Leaders Are Courageous

I was born a leader, and I don’t mean that as a compliment. I literally didn’t have a say in the matter because my parents had three boys after me. This positioned me as the oldest of four children and postured me as the leader to them.

In the book of Joshua, Joshua didn’t really have a say in the matter either. Especially when the King of all Kings called him into his leadership role! In Joshua 1, God literally speaks to Joshua and says, “Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people...” (Joshua 1:2)

Growing up, I had to lead my brothers a lot because both of my parents had to work; but I only had to lead three of them for a few hours. When God called Joshua to leadership, he had to lead more than two million people into a foreign land. There are a lot of leadership characteristics required of such a feat, but as I read Joshua 1, there was one that stood out: Courage.

In this one chapter, where God calls Joshua to his newfound leadership and mission, “be strong and courageous” is used four times. And of those four, God delineates further, and in verse 7 says, “be strong and VERY courageous.” Courage got the “very,” as in, the further emphasis. In today’s emojis, that would be like a fist bump, a bicep, an exclamation point and a prayer pose.

Courage is essential in leadership. From leading three brothers in a home to leading millions into a strange land and everything in between. It took courage for me to lead my three brothers during our nasty summertime thunderstorms. It took Joshua courage to lead the Israelites through enemy territory. It takes courage to lead a marriage through a violation of trust. It takes courage to lead a child through rebellion. It takes courage to lead a church through transition. It takes courage to lead oneself through an addiction. Someone once said, “Leadership isn’t the absence of fear but the courage to walk through it.”

Ask yourself, “What am I afraid of in leadership?” Ask God to remove the fear and replace it with courage by praying God’s word, specifically Joshua 1:9 and 1 John 4:18.

By Heather Palacios