The Making of a Biblical Leader: 10 Principles for Leading Others Wellਨਮੂਨਾ

A Leader Is: God-Seeking

Jim Gallagher

If you are unclear on what God is calling you to do, remain faithful to what you are currently doing.

Jesus taught His disciples that we must be faithful in the little things if we are to be entrusted with greater things. God desires to use your current circumstances to further His kingdom.

Think of it this way: In times of confusion, does it make sense to seek God less? Of course not. The confusing seasons should press us toward the Lord.

I’ve heard anxiety described as “the soul’s cry for God.” Just as the body cries for nutrients when it is hungry, so the soul cries out to God when it is frightened, confused, saddened, or weak. In a similar way, confusion in leadership should press us to recognize our need to seek God.

Mark 9 records the story of when several of the apostles faced a demon-possessed child and were unable to deliver him. When Jesus arrived, He cast out the demon. Later, behind closed doors, the disciples asked why they were unable to deliver the child, to which Jesus replied, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting” (verse 29 NKJV).

In other words, when their efforts failed, they should have leaned into the Lord even more. In the same way, when your efforts have proven ineffective, you need to increase your spiritual investments.

Human beings were designed by God to be in a constant state of fellowship with Him, and through the cross of Christ, we can be. Yet there are seasons of life that require us to lean into the Lord more. Fasting is one way that we can do that. But we were not designed to live in a constant state of fasting. We can only fast for about 40 days before we die. It is in one of those seasons that we find Paul and his team. Their response was to seek the Lord more, and as they did so, further direction was given.

Are you in a season of confusion? Do you have a team looking to you for direction, and you don’t have answers for them? Perhaps it is time to put some of the timeless principles of Scripture into practice:

Seek the Lord while He may be found,
call upon Him while He is near (Isaiah 55:6 NKJV).

Those who wait on the Lord
shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:31 NKJV).

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you (James 4:8 NKJV).

If you are facing a season of uncertainty, you do not know how to lead because you do not know what to do. But remember that you are not alone. The heroes of the faith went through similar seasons. In your uncertainty, be sure to do what God has called you to do, set aside ample time to seek Him, and look for new and dynamic ways to participate in the furtherance of His kingdom.