Leadership is the art of empowering your followers. Though there are techniques associated with empowerment, the ability to get to the deeper issues comes with experience and requires creativity. Providing the inspiration to overcome obstacles involves courage and vision.
“Then the children of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, ‘Why have you given us only one lot and one share to inherit, since we are a great people, inasmuch as the Lord has blessed us until now?’ So Joshua answered them, ‘If you are a great people, then go up to the forest country and clear a place for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and the giants, since the mountains of Ephraim are too confined for you.’ But the children of Joseph said, ‘The mountain country is not enough for us; and all the Canaanites who dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both those who are of Beth Shean and its towns and those who are of the Valley of Jezreel.’ And Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph—to Ephraim and Manasseh—saying, ‘You are a great people and have great power; you shall not have only one lot, but the mountain country shall be yours. Although it is wooded, you shall cut it down, and its farthest extent shall be yours; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots and are strong'” (Joshua 17:14-18, NKJV).
Joshua was wrestling with these concepts as he dealt with the discouraged Israelites. He helped them regain vision for the Lord and His promises that were as real as iron chariots. We, too, can be successful leaders because we have a God who empowers us on a daily basis with creativity, courage, and vision.
The content of this article comes from “The Warrior’s Bible” (2014) and is copyrighted by Life Publishers International. Used with permission.
