Paul: Living and Leading with Limitations
Having a limitation does not necessarily mean a liability. Paul illustrates five attitudes required for transforming limitations into assets and living and leading victoriously.
Our world desperately needs models worth following. Authentic heroes. People of integrity whose lives inspire us to take God seriously, to follow His Word obediently, to pursue Christ passionately.
Thankfully, the Bible places before us a spiritual "hall of fame"—raw, uncensored, gritty stories of men and women sometimes soaring, often stumbling, through the incredible life of faith. They wrestled with sin, experienced God's grace, struggled with weakness, and overcame by faith. Their inspiring biographies have been memorialized in Scripture, not simply because of their faith in God but because of God's faithfulness to them.
These great lives from God's Word not only provide realistic portraits for appreciation but also relevant principles for application.
Having a limitation does not necessarily mean a liability. Paul illustrates five attitudes required for transforming limitations into assets and living and leading victoriously.
In the book of Esther, we find the majestic interweaving of God’s invisibility with His invincibility—His silence with His power. Though the name of God is absent in this book, His finger threads every word on its pages.
In the end Joshua was chosen to succeed Moses because he exhibited all these godly qualities. Remarkable leaders are remarkable followers first. Let’s think less about becoming a remarkable leader and more about becoming a remarkable follower.
When God selects His leaders He wants people who will not take the glory that belongs to Him alone. This is why He will often put us in seemingly impossible situations, so that when the victory is achieved no one can say that it was anything but God’s doing.
When the Lord—from a burning bush—called Moses to be His prophet, the sheepherder initially resisted the call. Moses came up with a variety of excuses—the first of which shows that his perspective was completely out of whack.
Every leader or would-be leader must ask and answer the question, “What am I going to do with my life?” Regardless of how one answers this question, at some point one will have to say “no” in order to pursue their life calling.
Our acute need is to cultivate a willingness to learn and to remain teachable. How beautiful it is to find a servant-hearted, teachable spirit among those who occupy high-profile positions of authority.
Good leaders will say, “Stay at it!” Ever notice how motivated and strengthened you feel when you have people who come alongside and let you know they want you to succeed? And the result? “Many people were brought to the Lord.”
Sensing the troubled hearts within His disciples, Jesus calmed the men with tranquil words that turned their thoughts toward a place of safety and love—the presence of God in His heavenly home.
God is never obligated to give us health and wealth, but the story of Joseph is an example of a man who was rewarded for his righteousness and kept his integrity intact. From him we can learn how to respond to those who prosper and those who suffer.