The Weight of Leadership

Reflections from Numbers 11:10-25

God had miraculously delivered these people from a hard burden of slavery and provided every single need supernaturally through each scary, unknown (to them) step.

But what we focus on expands. So what starts as a desire can turn into a demand if we continue to dwell on it. It turns into a craving, as its called in this passage. An idol of the heart.

What they craved was good, not evil. But when we want something SO much that we decide we can’t or won’t be happy until we have it, that is when a desire has turned into a demand. It turns a good thing into an idol.

Moses was so tired of leading these people. He was tired of dealing with all their mindset issues. It felt constant and it was draining him. “I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me. If you will treat me like this, kill me at once…” vv14-15a

Kill me dead. You ever get a message from a team member and think that thought?

The weight of leadership can feel heavy at times. You know God has called you to this. You care deeply about your team and desperately want them to be happy, content, and successful. And often they are NOT. And you feel the weight of it. Sometimes the demands of all of your responsibilities feel like way more than you can handle.

But I love how God responded to Moses’ cry for help. He PROVIDED the help that Moses needed. He provided him with MORE LEADERS to share the burden of leadership responsibility.

So when we are feeling the weight of our leadership responsibilities, here is how we can check our hearts:

1. Am I wanting a good thing too much? What is it that I am truly wanting right now?

• Is it recognition that I’m craving? Does my response and my attitude display fruit of the Spirit if I don’t get it?

  But the Lord supported me. He led me to a place of safety; he rescued me because he delights in me. Psalm 18:16-19

  When you really let it sink in that the God who created the heavens and the earth and everything in it delights in YOU, how does that effect your craving for recognition?

• Is it money that I’m craving? Does my response and my attitude display fruit of the Spirit if I don’t get it?

  The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it. Proverbs 10:22

  Wanting to make money is a good thing! That desire is precisely what makes you a productive and useful human being. It causes you to serve others by meeting needs in the marketplace, which what God intended! And the Bible often correlates wisdom with wealth. But is your income coming with joy, peace, and love? Or is there stress and worry with it?

• Is it security that I’m craving? Does my response and my attitude display fruit of the Spirit if I don’t get it?

  I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. Psalm 34:4-5

  How’s my prayer life? Am I seeking the Lord or taking the whole burden of provision upon myself? Prayers entrusting ourselves and our provision to the Lord bring much peace.

2. Am I carrying the vision alone?

You want to be useful. You want to serve others. You want your work to make a difference in peoples lives. But sometimes you feel like you are the only one who sees this vision and you can’t figure out how to get people to see this vision with you. Pray for the Lord to send you leaders to share the vision with you! And then commit to the work of learning the skills of becoming a leader people want to follow and developing other people into leaders people will want to follow! Refer to the Creating Leaders series on the podcast (with workbook!) for more on this.

3. Am I carrying all of the leadership responsibilities and doing most of the work alone?

If you want to achieve a vision that is bigger than yourself, you’re going to need a team of people outside yourself. No one person or leader has every strength, skill, or talent needed to do it all well. It takes a team of people with diverse strengths and abilities to build something HUGE. You’re going to have to learn to delegate well and share the load with your leaders.

From trainings and creating valuable resources for the team, to announcements in the team page, to events and product launches where hospitality, planning, and graphic making are all needed plus everything in between, the work is endless and ongoing and if you try to do every part of it yourself you will know intuitively that you wont be able to keep that pace for very long. At a minimum you will become tired, and at worst you can become burned out.

When you have leaders on your team who share the vision, they should also be sharing the load! Let go of any perfectionistic tendencies, figure out what job people can do 80% as well as you could and let them run! It will boost their confidence as leaders as they are recognized for the value they are bringing to the table. Working together— sharing the load AND sharing the credit— will get all of you to the vision much faster AND with mental health in tact when you get there. 🤍