YLD (21/08/22) – True leader responds to God’s calling by humility/humbleness
Summary
Scripture:
“When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’ “But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons. (Acts 7:23-29)
If you have a choice, do you want to be a leader or a follower?
- In reality, we are both. Sometimes we need to take a leadership role and other time we need to be a follower so we can learn.
True leader responds to God’s calling by humility:
1) Good leader needs to be first a good follower – learning from the good leaders
2) Good leader needs to think less of yourself, willing to sacrifice for others
- “As C. S. Lewis famously put it: it is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.”
3) Good leader needs to know where one is going – having a clear vision from God
Today, we are going to talk about Moses.
God called Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.
Let us learn from Moses’ mistake.
His birth and his family background
- Moses was a miracle as God kept him alive and well
- He was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action
- God placed a special mission in his heart for his people – save Israelites out of Egypt
Moses was clear about his calling
- He knew his call from God, but he took things into his own hand.
- He did not seek God.
- His mindless act ended up killing an Egyptian.
- He was in the wilderness for 40 years – a time to wait for the Lord and know his own limit.
After 40 years of waiting, God reassured his calling to him – leading Israelites out of Egypt. God appeared to him in a burning bush.
So even if God asked you to do something, it may not be a smooth ride.
- We learn to reflect through challenges and difficulties, seek him first (being humble), and rely on God.
A true Christian leader needs to follow God humbly and shows people who God is.
