I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. ~ I Cor. 3:6

Understanding our purpose and calling as leaders is SO important.

We are not all called to do the same things.

We are not all called to serve the same people… in the same ways.

All places and problems are unique — and God calls us based on the unique gifts/talents/passions that God has designed us with — to ‘go and do’ what God calls us to.

In my post yesterday I shared some thoughts on how the unique nature of Moses’ leadership of the Israelites might be able to shed some necessary light on our current ministry leadership experience.

Today, my attention turns to Joshua and how God chose to use him to complete the mission that had originally been given to Moses — conquering the Promised Land for the Israelites to inhabit.

The task had been Moses’, but now it was Joshua’s.  Joshua had been with Moses, even serving as a spy sent to explore the Promised Land in the book of Numbers, but at the end of Deuteronomy we see Moses passing on his leadership baton to the new leader of the Israelites.

The mission was not complete, but Moses’ part in the process was.

Joshua’s 40 year of leadership would take on a much different look than that of his predecessor.

All of the struggles that Moses experienced while moving the Israelites towards the Promised Land would be replaced, in Joshua’s season of leadership, with success in the form of a united Israelite army following — ultimately — the leadership of God.

But wasn’t Moses’ ministry leadership critical to setting the stage for Joshua’s success?

Some of us may too quickly give all of the credit to God… and truthfully, God is ultimately always deserving of it.

I wonder, however, if as we look at this transitional period in the history of the Israelites, we don’t catch a glimpse of how God chooses to use different people – in different seasons – for different reasons.

Would Moses’ really have been able to lead the military campaigns in the successful manner that Joshua did?

Would Joshua have been able to deal with the stiff-necked nature of the Israelites for 40 years in the same way that Moses did?

It’s hard to say with any certainty, but it’s definitely worth us considering.

These two men led the Israelites in different ways through very different seasons of their history.

And if we pull back just a bit on the panorama of their history, we are reminded of the Patriarchs and Joseph who helped to pave the way for these two men… and if we pull back further yet we’ll see that faithful individuals like the Judges, Ruth, Samuel, some of the Kings, the Prophets, Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah, Jesus & the Disciples, Paul, Timothy and many others were used to lead the Jewish nation at different times in their collective history.

The point that I’m trying to make is that we never know for sure where our leadership will fall in the lifetime of a ministry context.

We don’t know how our current course of action — including our present challenges and/or success — are setting the stage for the leaders who will come after us.

Neither do we oft consider the legacy of those who have come before us… and how all of their efforts have helped to set the stage for us.

We are stewards of the relationships, and ministry contexts, that God chooses to entrust to us.

SO:

• How does this truth shape your current ministry leadership?
• What role do you currently find yourself playing (soil tiller, seed sower, waterer, pruner, harvester, other)?
• Does it help you, in your present season of ministry, to consider that God has called you to it, designed you in ways to help it, as well as to see that you are simply carrying out the role that God has asked of you… in the line of many who have come before you… and the many who will come after you?

I’d love to know what you think.

Grace and peace.