Leadership Based on Vision

I think truly developing the thought that you can actually accomplish anything is somewhat of an oxy-moron. You can’t accomplish a thing in yourself, yet at the same time, you can. What an interesting parallel we find ourselves in. What do we do to stand in the middle of this predicament? If you lean too heavily to one side, you’ll sink in the self-glorifying abyss and miss it, but lean too heavily to other, and you’ll fall into the powerless depths of never being good enough. There has to be balance. There has to be a place in the middle-working and putting forth personal effort, while understanding that if the steps of the righteous are ordered by God then He will make sure we are exactly where he wants us to be. Where does success enter? Are we all of a sudden successful when we achieve the fruits of our labors? When people give us acclaim? When we have applause? When we take the next step into greater leadership? Or is it when we are faithfully walking, and trying our best to bear fruit where we are-and waiting on God to do the rest? I’ve been reading a lot about leadership, and I'm somewhat unimpressed with the lofty ideas of personal development. I’m tired of reading about the 12 steps to becoming a better leader, or the best ways to maximize your potential. It’s almost like they are giving future leaders manuals on how to manipulate people into doing what they want, rather than focusing on generating a personal God-given vision for a certain situation, or ministry position, first. Do we just assume that people are spending the time truly seeking, and listening to, God for what He wants to do in a given situation? I think it’s dangerous to assume, because if I know people-or myself-then the easiest thing we do is take a good idea for a situation and fast-track it as a God idea. We then run the risk of manipulating people to conform to our agenda, rather than motivate them with a God inspired vision. I’m all for gaining leadership principles-but not at the expense of shortcutting a true vision. I think personal development, or leadership development, apart from a consistent humility before God that truly says, “God, unless you do this thing it won’t happen,” is fundamentally flawed. You cannot seek to be a Christian leader and put the development of carrying out a vision before the actual vision-getting process. I’m not saying that we should bury our heads in a false humility, denying the things we’re good at, or giving up completely by dismissing those things we need to work on to improve ourselves, but what I am saying is that if there is more effort spent on working to improve yourself with natural means than by developing true dependence on God’s power and provision, then you will never be the leader God has designed you to be because you are not following closely enough the lead of the One who is giving the vision. Praise God for men who have found positive and efficient ways to carry out a God-given vision! Thankfully, they can pass their wisdom on to us! Unfortunately, they can't pass their vision on to us. It is our job to search deeply into the heart of God for our people, our churches, our families, and our lives! Simple Application: Before you ever expect to motivate others to accomplish something, make sure that you pass the test of Divine origins. A God-birthed dream will captivate you and truly motivate you, long before it will captivate and motivate anyone else.