A Hard Act to Follow

By Bonnie Ricks, This Day's Devotional Thursday, May 12, 2005

After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the LORD, "Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?" (Judges 1:1 NIV)

Already, Israel was missing Joshua. He had been a formidable leader. He had helped a united nation grow out of a rag-tag bunch of nomads. He had been not only their military head and their political head, he had been their spiritual leader as well. He was a hard act to follow.

During this crisis - during this time when Israel was seeking new leadership - the nation had to learn a lesson that we all need to know. No matter how powerful, how strong, how good, how capable, how impressive a leader is - he is not the strength of the nation. The strength of the nation was God... not Joshua... not Moses... not any future leader the nation might have.

You and I have a tendency to focus on powerful, charismatic, influential people. We put our faith and trust in them because of their strength, or their speaking ability, or the way they do things. We do this in our government, our businesses and in our churches. And invariably, we are disappointed. At some point, we are disappointed. Because we have forgotten that it's not the President of the United States who's in charge of this country... It's not the CEO who's in charge of the corporation... It's not the Pastor who's in charge of your church. It's not the father who's in charge of your family. It's God!

Only when we realize this... only when we stop letting people run things in our lives... only when we look past our leaders, no matter how spiritually wise they seem... only when we acknowledge God as the head honcho – the top dog - the commander in chief of our lives. Then and only then will we stop being disappointed. Then and only then will we live the victorious lives our Lord intends us to live.

From Newsong Ministries
thisdaysdevotional.org

Used with Permission.