Are you leading from a place of promise?

Reduction is the place where life generally flows. Reduction of vision, reduction in healthy relationships, and reduction in results. Leadership is a constant flow of challenges, relational problems, and things that didn’t work out as we thought. If you sit down in the boat of life and go with the flow, you will drift further and further from the goals that once gripped you with bold excitement for the future.

As a leader, if you read enough books, you can do quite a lot to combat the second law of thermodynamics that tries to make everything in your life move toward chaos. You can set great goals, create a compelling scoreboard, hold people accountable to results, and generally steer the ship towards a semblance of success.

But even if you do all of that, and yet you miss this one vital ingredient, you will find yourself paddling up the wrong stream, heading up a hill that you were never meant to climb.

Leaders need promises from God for the people they are leading.

Abraham without a promise was a legacyless nomad.

Moses without a promise was a desert bedouin.

David without a promise was a king whose kingdom would have died when he perished.

Peter without a promise was an emotionally unhealthy case study in bad leadership.

If you dive into the story of every great leader in the Bible, you will find a story of God promising leaders something.

Abraham was promised a blessed posterity.

Moses was promised a land flowing with milk and honey.

David was promised a kingdom that would never end.

Peter was promised the lead role in Jesus’ organization.

If these leaders just had good techniques and self-discipline, certainly they would have accomplished something. But their names would not have been written in stories that have been told to the ends of the earth.

I recently had decided that perhaps the goal I was pursuing as a leader was too lofty, that maybe the best way to temper my disappointment was to go after something more realistic. I had received a promise of a “movement” ten years ago. A man who leads a large movement had said to me that he saw me as the tip of an arrow, and that he saw me leading three “movements” during my lifetime.

I had held onto that promise until recently, when it seemed like the outplay of that word was too difficult for our context.

But then during a time of fasting and prayer at the beginning of this year, a woman came and spoke these words: “I feel revival is coming. I see you as the tip of an arrow.” All of a sudden, I remembered the word the Lord had spoken to me so long ago, and I sensed God saying to keep believing Him for the promise and to keep working towards the goal of “movement.”

I felt exhilarated and full of hope for the future. In a season where many things in our team have been falling apart, I am holding on to a promise that God is going to do what He said.

It’s easy to start going through the motions as leaders, whether it’s doing the same-old or even pursuing a large vision because we feel like it’s our responsibility to the organization.

God isn’t interested in the status quo. He is interested in you receiving a promise from Him, believing that He will do what He said He would do and then you working with all your might to partner with Him in the fulfillment of that promise.

If you need a promise for your leadership, you don’t have to wait for somebody to come and give you a word about your life. You can find a quiet space and ask the Lord the question: “What promise do you have for my organization/business/ministry/family?”

He is waiting to show you his promises over your life as a leader.