Antioch Ministries

Michael and I are doing a study on the book of Joshua, trying to gain some insight into what it means to be a godly leader. These are a few things that stood out to me from my first study.

The book of Joshua begins with God seeking out Joshua and giving him the command to lead the Israelites into the promised land. Moses has died and Joshua is being handed the reins. I think it is interesting to note that God comes to Joshua to give him authority over the Israelites. This is important and it is a trend you see repeated throughout the Old and New Testament. When God wants something to be accomplished He comes directly to His servant and gives him authority. The angel of the Lord did it with Gideon, and Jesus did it with Peter. Godly authority is handed to you by God. It is not something to strive for, just accepted as a gift. If you are fighting for your authority, it may not be authority from God.

In conjunction with that last thought, I think it is interesting to notice that when God gives His authority to Joshua, He attaches to it both a vision (lead Israel into the promised land) and specific instructions (found in Joshua 1:3-9). This is a second observation that can serve us well in the places that we are to be leaders, whether at work, at home, or at the church. When God appoints us to be His leaders, He does it so we can execute a specific vision He gives us. Furthermore He will give us instruction in how to accomplish that vision if we are faithful to seek Him for it.

So my conclusion is that as a leader I need to ask God to give me a vision for those I lead, and daily seek His instruction on how to carry out that vision (Job 22:22). And finally as we will see throughout the course of this study I have to be courageous enough to step out and carry out the vision given to me by God, knowing that God will never leave me or forsake me (Joshua 1:5).