Thursday, January 22, 2009

The Spirit of Caleb

Dr. John Maxwell writes: "When I began my career I was very ineffective as a leader. My problem was that I wanted to please everybody. Making people happy was the most important thing to me. The bottom line was, I lacked the courage to make right but unpopular decisions. How did I turn things around? By making small decisions that were difficult. With each one I gained more confidence and more courage, and I began to change. The process took me four years. At the end of that time I felt I had learned many valuable lessons, and I wrote the following to help me cement what I had learned:

"Courageous leadership simply means I've developed:
(1) Convictions that are stronger than my fears.
(2) Vision that is clearer than my doubts.
(3) Spiritual sensitivity that is louder than popular opinion.
(4) Self-esteem that is deeper than self-protection.
(5) Appreciation for discipline that is greater than my desire for leisure.
(6) Dissatisfaction that is more forceful than the status quo.
(7) Poise that is more unshakeable than panic.
(8) Risk-taking that is stronger than safety-keeping.
(9) Actions that are more robust than rationalization. (10) A desire to see potential reached more than to see people pleased."

If people-pleasing is your problem, you might want to go back and re-read those ten things. You don't have to be great to become a person of courage. You just have to want to fulfill God's plan and purpose for your life - and be willing to trade what seems good in the moment for what's best for your future! And that's something you can do this year, regardless of your level of natural talent. There is a very good example of this in the Bible, in fact it is my favorite person in the Old Testament…Caleb.

He was a leader that faced his fears with courage. Listen to what God said about him:

Numbers 14:24 But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.

Caleb wasn't into "safe living". As a young man he came back from the Promised Land, stood with the minority and announced, "With God on our side we'll take it!" At 85, he was still slaying giants and claiming mountains. That's because he had "a different spirit". He wasn't a "go with the flow and expect the status quo" guy.

Richard Edler writes: "Safe living generally makes for regrets later on. We are all given talents and dreams. Sometimes the two don't seem to match. But usually we compromise both before ever finding out. Later on, we find ourselves looking back longingly to that time when we should have chased our true dreams and our true talents for all they were worth. Don't let yourself be pressured into thinking that your dreams or your talents aren't prudent. They were never meant to be prudent. They were meant to bring joy and fulfilment into your life." If a caterpillar refuses to get into its cocoon it'll never transform and will be forever relegated to crawling on the ground, even though it had the potential to fly.

What do you believe God's called you to do? Do it! God's not limited by your IQ, He's limited by your "I will".

The poet said: "If you think you are beaten, you are. If you think you dare not, you don't. If you'd like to win but you think you can't, it's almost certain you won't. Life's battles don't always go to the stronger or faster man, but sooner or later the man who wins, is the man who believes he can."

The spirit of Caleb is the "can do" spirit! Have you got it? Blessings!

Pastor Rusty L. Blann

3 comments:

Treasure Seeker said...

wow! you challenged me today! - cause you know i am a people pleaser at heart!

thank you... you continually encourage me to be a better person and a better leader.

i love you!
dorinda

Anonymous said...

Wow! I just read this blog and I too love the spirit of Caleb. I can identify with the ten areas that you mentioned. Right now, I am in a spiritual battle trying to find where God wants to me be and to serve. I love being 'sold out' to God and worshipping and working in church ... I love mission work, I love the elderly, I love the kids. I've taught Sunday School for college and career and I have worked in the kitchen. I was married to a church deacon for years. Then, my life fell apart. My two boys have suffered. Praise God, he picked me up and put me back together. He turned my sorrow into praise and he brought Douglas into my life. We are so happy together and we truly want to serve God together. I think I am afraid of "fear" itself. Not scared of something new, but afraid of the unknowns in life and do I really believe everything from any denomination? I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and that I confessed that many years ago. I feel that if I died today, I would see my earthly father again in heaven. I believe in baptism by immersion and have followed that commandment to show my outwardly symbolism of faith in Jesus Christ. I know that church membership is a bit different for Assemblies than Baptist, and are divorced couples allowed to serve within the church? God forgave us and brought us together but I have so much to give back to God with my gifts of service...I can't sing or play the piano, but I am compassionate, can cook, and love to teach. I am a Beth Moore finatic but I also love all sorts of inspirtational books, including my Bible. I just read a book entitled, "Pray Big", it was great! It spoke to me in the "so be it", let God use you however he wants. A lot of my thoughts today, and concerns. God bless.

Rick Bruce said...

Thank you for your post, Pastor. You have confirmed what God has been speaking to me for a while now. I must stand firm in my faith and in His will and complete the task He has given me, with a boldness and fervor that shows that, though i may not be able to do it, God is and can use me to do so. That gives me the Caleb "can do" spirit.