Called to be God's Leader Workbook

THOMAS NELSON PUBLISHERS

Contents

Chapter One

LIMITLESS POSSIBILITIES

Then Moses spoke to the Lord, saying: "Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, who may go out before them and go in before them, who may lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be like sheep which have no shepherd."

And the Lord said to Moses: "Take Joshua the son of Nun with you, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and inaugurate him in their sight. And you shall give some of your authority to him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient. He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire before the Lord for him by the judgment of the Urim; at his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, he and all the children of Israel with him-all the congregation."

So Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation. And he laid his hands on him and inaugurated him, just as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses. Numbers 27:15-23

Our world craves good leaders. It would seem that effective leadership has become the panacea for every challenge society faces. Whether it's politics, religion, business, education, or law, the universally expressed need is for leaders who will rise to meet the challenges that seem to overwhelm many of today's organizations.

For decades the question has been asked: "Are leaders born or are they made?" Those who believe leaders are born see leaders as having inbred personality traits and genetically predetermined talents that cause the person to gravitate toward and assume leadership roles. The born leader cannot help but lead! Those who believe leaders are made see leaders as those who receive specialized training that qualifies them for a leadership role.

God's Word takes a different approach. The Bible tells us that leaders are those whom God chooses and raises up. Those who become the most successful, admired, and positive leaders are those who have a deep relationship with God and who are elevated to a position of leadership by Him. The Bible says, "The eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him" (2 Chron. 16:9). Any person, therefore, can qualify for a leadership position. Any person deeply committed to the Lord is a person whom God can raise up into a high-profile, effective leadership position.

Indeed, some of the greatest leaders in the Bible were people that others would have totally discounted, both on the basis of their past and upbringing, and on the basis of their training. They were chosen for leadership and became great leaders because their hearts were completely devoted to the Lord God. We can learn much from their examples.

One of these great leaders in the Bible whose early life bore no hint of the great man he would become was Joshua.

Joshua's forefathers were slaves. Spanning four centuries, Joshua's ancestors had lived in Egypt, much of that time in bondage. Born with no possibility of freedom, education, or military training, the thought of a stellar military career would have seemed ludicrous to Joshua. Yet he became a victorious general and, even more important, a dynamic spiritual leader. The key to Joshua's astounding career was not found in his abilities or opportunities. Nor was it in his character, though that was of sterling quality. The key was not found in Joshua at all. It was found in God. Joshua was an ordinary man who was devoted to and willingly served a great God.

Joshua had many admirable qualities, but he also had his flaws. Like everyone, he had his limitations. People, even great people, are prone to failure. They can succumb to their difficult circumstances. But words like cannot and impossible have no place in God's vocabulary (Rom. 8:31). From heaven's perspective, nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37). Likewise, when God sets a plan in motion, failure is not an option. These truths were made abundantly clear in Joshua's life despite his humble circumstances.

DAY ONE

God Used Joshua Despite His Past

Details about Joshua's father are sketchy except that he was a slave from a long line of slaves. His name was Nun. Joshua's grandfather and great-grandfather were raised in bondage. It was their family business. It was all they knew. Generations of Joshua's ancestors grew up without the privileges most people take for granted. They were deprived of rights such as freedom of movement, access to education, possession of property, and respectful treatment.

Joshua's education was dictated by his position. A strong back was more useful than a keen mind. One can imagine Nun instructing his young son, "Now Joshua, you are old enough to be working with the other men. Be careful not to look an Egyptian in the eye. That will get you a lash across your back. And don't ever be caught standing idle; it makes the taskmasters furious!"

Such childhood training would lead most Israelite children to grow up with few aspirations. At best, they could hope for a life with the fewest beatings possible and, God willing, the strength to endure each day. Such a lowly beginning was hardly what one would expect for a mighty general!

Bible Contemplation

Romans 8:31 "If God is for us, who can be against us?"

Luke 1:37 "For with God nothing will be impossible."

When you read the two verses above, do you see them fully applicable to your life? Or do you find yourself saying: Except ... but ... however? ______________ Is there something that keeps you from fully accepting God's possibilities for you? If so, what is it? ___________________________

2 Chronicles 16:9 "The eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him."

On the basis of this verse what do you believe your position to be before the Lord? _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________

Is your heart loyal to Him? _____________________________

Joshua undoubtedly grew up well acquainted with suffering. Thousands of years before workers' rights, legal protection, or public health care, a Hebrew slave's life would have been tedious, painful, and brief. The book of Exodus describes Egypt's cruel oppression of God's people. When God enlisted Moses to be His minister of deliverance for them, God said, "I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows" (Ex. 3:7).

Joshua quite likely saw those he loved whipped and beaten. Perhaps he helped tend their bloodied backs and watched the adults nursing their broken bones and rubbing their aching muscles. As he looked into his countrymen's eyes, did Joshua see the distant, hollow looks of those who had long since lost any hope of their freedom? It's possible that among the sounds of moaning and weeping during the night's stillness, Joshua also overheard the hushed conversations of the adults wistfully describing their hope for the future and debating whether they would ever escape their misery.

What must have passed through young Joshua's mind as he watched the dreaded Egyptian soldiers racing past in their splendid chariots? Did Joshua remember that only a generation earlier, these soldiers had brutally massacred Hebrew babies in a crude attempt at population control? Was he mocked and mimicked by proud Egyptian boys as he passed them on the way to his work site? By the time Joshua was a teenager, he had probably been taunted with every derogatory term in the Egyptian language. While Egyptian boys dreamed of becoming war heroes, victorious generals, and world travelers, what dreams did the slave boy Joshua harbor? Everything about Joshua's world spoke of hopelessness. Yet did he dream, as young boys do, of a nobler life for himself and for his children?

Personal Response

What dreams did you have for your life when you were a child? Think in terms of the quality of life you dreamed about having, rather than a specific career. _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________

What realities of your childhood have limited what you have done or become? _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________

Are you hopeful, or hopeless about your future? Explain why. _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________

In spite of how you feel, what do you believe God desires for you? _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________

Whatever his dreams were, in reality his future looked bleak, and his present circumstances were equally dismal. Yet his distant past must have intrigued him. Hebrew parents would regularly recite the stories of their beginnings to their children. They would recount how, centuries earlier, God had encountered Abraham and told him to move his family from Haran to the land of Canaan. The adults would describe how Abraham trusted God's promise that one day his descendants would fill that land and be as numerous as the stars in the sky.

They would relate how the revered patriarch Abraham, when he was one hundred years old, miraculously became a father. His elderly wife, Sarah, bore a son, Isaac. Isaac had two sons, Esau and Jacob. Despite Jacob's questionable beginnings, he, too, became a patriarch and God renamed him Israel. Jacob had twelve famous sons. God apparently had special plans for the eleventh son, Joseph. As a young boy, Joseph dreamed of one day being used mightily by God. Joseph's brothers grew jealous of their younger brother, so they sold him into slavery and exiled him to Egypt.

At this point in the story, young Joshua's heart must have quickened, for he was a descendant of Joseph. Regardless of how many times he heard the story, Joshua must have been thrilled to hear how Joseph rocketed from confinement in a dismal Egyptian prison cell all the way to an exalted and influential position at Pharaoh's right hand. When a famine forced Joseph's brothers to move their families to Egypt, Joseph became preeminent over them, just as God had foretold.

As the twelve sons of Jacob had children and enlarged their families, each of Jacob's sons' descendants became a tribe of Israel. Unlike the other tribes, however, God declared that Joseph's descendants would be so numerous as to form two tribes under his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. Both tribes would become powerful, but the descendants of the younger brother, Ephraim, would greatly surpass those from Manasseh's tribe. Joshua was from Ephraim's tribe.

Joseph's story would have seemed like a fairy tale to the young boys of Joshua's day. But it had happened. God had taken one of His children from the lowest position in society and elevated him to the highest. "If God did it once ..." Surely the young Hebrew boys would argue over which tribe was the greatest as they played. They would have speculated whether the distant prophecies concerning their tribes would ever become a reality.

The aged Jacob had prophesied of Joseph's tribe:

Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a well; his branches run over the wall. The archers have bitterly grieved him, shot at him and hated him. But his bow remained in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob (from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel), by the God of your father who will help you, and by the Almighty who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb. The blessings of your father have excelled the blessings of my ancestors, up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers. (Genesis 49:22-26)

As young Joshua heard the elders reciting this prophecy, it may have seemed like a cruel joke. Yet the prophecy claimed that one day, Joseph's descendants would receive bountiful blessings from God. They would be valiant warriors with deadly bows. God Himself would strengthen the arms of their archers. Joshua was a direct descendant of the famous Joseph. Joshua knew the prophecy that his tribe, Ephraim, would one day be a mighty people (Gen. 48:19). Joshua's grandfather was Elishama, the chief of Ephraim (1 Chron. 7:26-27; Num. 1:10). Yet, despite his prominent ties to Ephraim, God's promises probably seemed as distant to Joshua as his dead ancestor Joseph.

Bible Contemplation

Jeremiah 29:11-13 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."

As you read this passage, what future and a hope immediately come to your mind and heart? _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________

What does God want to do in your life so you will have a hope for your future? _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________

DAY TWO

God Used Joshua Despite His Youth

In Joshua's day the Israelite people revered their elders. The elders made all the decisions. Joshua would have still been a young man when the Exodus began. He would not have been considered a prominent national leader. Moses and his generation were the influential ones of that day. This may explain, in part, Joshua's initial silence when he returned from spying out the land with the other eleven spies. He and Caleb were in favor of immediately occupying the land of Canaan (Num. 13:30; 14:6-10).

When the minority report was given, however, the elder Caleb initially spoke out rather than Joshua. And, when Joshua lent his voice to Caleb's pleas, rather than being persuaded, the people sought to kill him. Ironically, there would come a time when the Israelites would not question a word from Joshua, no matter how incredulous it might sound. However, in Joshua's youth this was not yet the case. Joshua still had much to learn and much to experience before the people would follow him unquestioningly. God was still shaping his young life.

The Bible reveals a consistent pattern wherein God revealed to young men and women His plans to use their lives in a significant way. God gave young Joseph dreams of ruling over his brothers long before that revelation became a reality (Gen. 37:5-11). Samuel was consecrated to the Lord's service even before his conception (1 Sam. 1:11).

Likewise, God appointed the prophet Jeremiah for service before he was born (Jer. 1:5). Jeremiah hesitated to serve God because he was young, but God exhorted him, "Do not say, `I am a youth,' for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak" (Jer. 1:7).

David was still a young shepherd boy when God alerted him that one day he would be a king (1 Sam. 16:12-13). Mary was still a teenager when she learned of God's incredible plans for her future (Luke 1:26-37). John was probably a young man when Jesus called him to follow Him. As the apostle Paul mentored young Timothy, he had to encourage his youthful protg, "Let no one despise your youth" (1 Tim. 4:12).

Historically, God has repeatedly chosen young people and fashioned them into great leaders. The key for each of them, as it would be for Joshua, was their willingness to be patient and obedient as God prepared them for His purposes. At times emerging leaders limit their future possibilities by their impatience. They look for shortcuts to success, but God is methodical. He typically lays a foundation of character before building a superstructure of leadership.

Personal Response

Did God reveal His plan for you early in your life? (This may be the first time you have admitted this revelation to anyone-even to yourself.) _________________________________________________________

Have you, or someone you know, ever tried to take a shortcut to personal success? What was the result? _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________

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Excerpted from Called to be God's Leader Workbookby HENRY BLACKABY RICHARD BLACKABY Copyright © 2007 by Henry Blackaby & Richard Blackaby. Excerpted by permission.
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