True Leader

Joshua 15:^16-17 “Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to the one who attacks and captures Kiriath-Sepher.”  Othniel, the son of Caleb’s brother Kenaz, was the one who conquered it, so Acsah became Othniel’s wife.”

One huge lesson in conquest is that every force is as strong as its weakest soldier. Every chain is as strong as the weakest link in the chain. But when everybody pulls together, we become absolutely unstoppable. This is why as a people, we like to pray together, do vigils together, and go through seasons of fasting together. It is not just one man doing everything because he is more anointed than everybody. We are all in it together! By the time you bring your anointing and I bring mine, and others bring theirs, we become unstoppable. None of us has more grace than all of us. None of us is as powerful as all of us. Caleb teaches us that taking your mountain is really not about you alone. It is about us, why? It is because I have an inheritance in your mountain, and you have an inheritance in my mountain. Everything is connected.

Caleb also shows us that he gets involvement, and participation from other people. Caleb gets people to rise to the occasion. He develops talent and capacity in others. Caleb allows others to be all that God has called them to be. As leaders, one of the best ways of discerning leadership in others is to place a challenge before them and see who rises to the challenge. Jesus is a master at it. David was a master at it. And Caleb was also a master at it. The leader is not the person that has the biggest chest, the person with the deepest voice, or the most stubborn person. The leader is the person that will rise to challenges and solve problems that pertain to the community.

Numbers 13:³² “They spread scary rumours among the People of Israel. They said, “We scouted out the land from one end to the other—it’s a land that swallows people whole.” (MSG). Now contrast Othniel to the response the other spies gave – baseless rumours. Did they traverse the land from south to north? Yes. Did they see that the land was fruitful? Yes. Did they see that there were giants in the land? Yes. God did not say they should deny that there were giants. In fact, God told them to check the kind of people that were living in the land. But when you reach conclusions out of your fear and prejudices, you short-change yourself from the destiny that has been earmarked for you. They reached conclusions based on their own prejudices and their own fears.

The truth is that any fool can rise to the challenge of spreading fear and division. Only true leaders rise to the challenge of greatness, of taking territories, of expanding the tent, and of building the community. Any fool can rise to the challenge of creating confusion and anarchy.

Prayer: Father, I ask for wisdom, courage, and tenacity to be a solution to my generation, to build, to take territories, and solve complex issues with ease, in Jesus Name. Amen!