Daily Encouragement: Year 1, Day 12
Adapted from Handbook to Leadership
Personal Development: Courage/Risk-Taking
It was one thing when the children of Israel murmured and complained about their provisions and their leadership during the first two years in the wilderness. It was far more serious when they decided they could no longer trust the Lord.
By pursuing a pain-avoidance strategy rather than trusting the Lord, the Israelites actually inflicted far more pain upon themselves. As a result of their lack of courage, the generation of the Exodus was consigned to an additional thirty-eight years of wilderness wandering until they died and the new generation was ready to take the land.
Obedience to the precepts and principles of Scripture does in fact require significant risk, because to trust God is to pursue the invisible over the visible. But if we hedge our bets by resisting the prompting of the Spirit and chasing the promises of the world system, our growth will be stunted (Hebrews 4:2).
Knowing this, God asks His people to take the step of faith and trust in His presence (Joshua 1:9). God is the ultimate source of empowerment; He is the eternal source of the godly leader’s courage.