12I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they. 13And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;) 14And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou LORD art among this people, that thou LORD art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night. 15Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying, 16Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness. 17And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, 18The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. 19Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.
On Monday night I heard a wonderful message from my pastor entitled “Now or Never”. He is preaching a series of revival services for the great people of Lakeland Baptist Church in Buford, GA. In this passage we find the children of Israel making a decision based upon the report of the now famous 12 spies. It is “Now or Never” for them. They choose never and their generation misses out on the Promise Land.
That is the set up for the passages above. God is displeased with their decision. He tells Moses that He” will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they”. I do not know of a ministry leader that at some point would not consider this offer. God would disinherit the rebellious, stubborn people and start all over with Moses and make a mightier nation. I wonder how many ministry leaders today will sit at their desk dreaming there correct place of difficulty and going somewhere it will “really work”.
I am amazed and challenged by the heart of this leader – Moses. All in ministry should know that the path we walk as leaders is the lowly path of a servant. Good leaders in the secular and church world know to prefer their people above them. However, when seeing in to the heart of Moses we truly see what should be in the heart of a leader. Moses pleas with God to restore the people not only becuase of his love for them but most importantly because of the fame of thee (God)!
An overwhelming love for God, His glory, and fame should be at the heart of the leader. It is what allows us to not make selfish decision based upon personal desires but also keeps us from making fleshly desires based upon the wants of the people. The good leader has the people at the center of the decision making. You know the customer is always right. However, the Godly leader has God’s global fame as the deciding factor for the direction he or she will take. I pray God gives me and allows me to keep the heart of a true leader.
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