Spiritual Leadership – Battle of Waiting

How do you make a decision when you can’t hear from God? Oh, you always hear from God? Good. But for the rest of us, how do we make decisions when we can’t hear from God? Take a deep breath and say it, “There are times that I need to move on or make a decision and I simply am not sure of the answer and I am not sure that I have heard from God or better, I know I haven’t.” Say it loud, “There are times when I feel clueless!”

So how do you make that decision when you have not heard God’s voice deep down inside your heart? How do you take the step to lead when you are not as convinced of your direction as you are convinced of your salvation?

This Battle of Waiting kills most spiritual leaders. There are few who, even if now back from the field hospital and fighting again, have not fallen in this battle. This battle creates a tyranny of the urgent. Spiritual leaders often feel that answers, and good ones, are demanded immediately, after all, “We must act now – there are people that need help – now.”

The successful spiritual leader realizes that if he does not have an answer then he is certainly leading his people into the unknown. She realizes that there are only two possible problems: 1) either God is not directing; or, 2) she is not capable of hearing for some spiritual reason. In the first case, it would be stupid for a Christian Spiritual Leader to move ahead. It would violate the prime directives of such leadership. In the second case, if the leader moves ahead, the people following will be following a vacant leader who has issues with the very God they claim to lead the people to. Without a doubt though, every Christian Leader that I know has given into the worldly time and intelligence demands – moving forward on “common sense”, a “hunch” or “the advice received when leadership was abdicated to others.”

When we abdicate leadership saying, “I am not spiritually prepared to make this decision,” we are fools passing a decision on to people who should instead call us on our lack of preparation rather than participate in such a sham. The “hunch” decision is very common and as equally very foolish. The hunch really says, “Let’s stake our futures on a gamble that is based on a feeling that could be nothing more than intestinal gas that will pass and bring yet another feeling.”

It is at the gate of common sense that most find a “valid” reason for failing to wait on an answer from God that they are sure of. When the gate of common sense is opened, spiritual leaders become earthly, pagan leaders betraying their newfound faith and Spirit for the sense (common) that they had before they met God. Beyond the gate of common sense is found decisions made on circumstances, analysis and too much discussion. It is at the gate of common sense that men and women fail to wait any longer for answers that are as certain as their Christianity. Spiritual leaders should know that our common enemy can control circumstances. How many people in the Bible got tired of waiting for God’s answer, direction or provision and “did it their own way, the way that made sense”? It did not work for them and it will not work for us. Spiritual leader after spiritual leader fails in the Battle of Waiting because a man – earthly and prone to failure – pressures them for a decsion that “must be made now.” Ask yourself, “Who is the leader: the one who foolishly demands a guess answer or the one who says, 'You can fire me you earthly fool but I will not lead you into unsure lands.'" I am a decision scientist by trade. I understand a good discussion, the twelve sides to a story, the statistics and reports. However, I do not care how it all adds up and how much sense it makes if I am not sure what God wants me to do. He said, “What is wise to you, I find foolish. What is foolish to you, I find wise.” Common sense, the sense of earthly, man focused earthly wisdom led us to the gates of hell before we were saved.

Truly spiritual leaders are not afraid to take a stand and lead people to the place they are sure that God told them to go. Leadership is not about developing a following but about accomplishing God’s plan given to you as a leader. It is not only foolishness, but sin (Acts 14:23), to not wait for an answer that is held on to in full faith that it is God’s direction.

Sadly, when leaders fail in the Battle of Waiting, the people suffer hoplessness, wandering in the desert and a true lack of leadership. Wait on your knees before you need an answer. Wait on your knees when you need an answer. Wait on your knees when you need to know when to use the answer. Wait on your knees until you are sure and then decide, move and lead the people to God’s place. Time and earth will wait for Him.