Lead or Let?
Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 1:12 pm
The call to lead is a call to know who we are leading. Do we lead, out in front? Do we come alongside in support and encouragement, do we push from behind with urgency or is there another option? We need God’s specific wisdom and insight to lead well. God gave the keys that unlocked the door for one person. It was a unique person with a unique need that required a unique solution.
It was a moment of joy to see Franky finally jump in and experience the cool splash of the water. It was a new world for him and once discovered, there was no more being around the periphery, it was a world of water to be enjoyed and conquered.
I know a little boy who like Franky would be led to the playground to investigate all the equipment. He would try some things, but then would hold back on others, preferring to think, watch and wait. Sometimes, “the edge of the pool� was as far as he would go. He was not “jumping in�. He wouldn’t go up the ladder to the slide. It was too big a task or too scary a venture. No amount of encouragement or prodding or pushing would do, in fact it just made it worse. There was a sense of timing in his life that had to be right. When the time was right, the resolve and risk taking would be there for him and he would go up the stairs. As a teen he peered off the edge of a cliff into open waters below watching while others jumped off with screams and laughter. One day, he went. The time was right. When the time was right, the roller coasters that once seemed so daunting became immediately conquerable and they were conquered with delight.
Sometimes we lead by nurturing, pushing, supporting, and sometimes we lead by letting things be until the time is right when the new adventure will open up for the sheep and they will discover a previously undiscovered new world.
It was a moment of joy to see Franky finally jump in and experience the cool splash of the water. It was a new world for him and once discovered, there was no more being around the periphery, it was a world of water to be enjoyed and conquered.
I know a little boy who like Franky would be led to the playground to investigate all the equipment. He would try some things, but then would hold back on others, preferring to think, watch and wait. Sometimes, “the edge of the pool� was as far as he would go. He was not “jumping in�. He wouldn’t go up the ladder to the slide. It was too big a task or too scary a venture. No amount of encouragement or prodding or pushing would do, in fact it just made it worse. There was a sense of timing in his life that had to be right. When the time was right, the resolve and risk taking would be there for him and he would go up the stairs. As a teen he peered off the edge of a cliff into open waters below watching while others jumped off with screams and laughter. One day, he went. The time was right. When the time was right, the roller coasters that once seemed so daunting became immediately conquerable and they were conquered with delight.
Sometimes we lead by nurturing, pushing, supporting, and sometimes we lead by letting things be until the time is right when the new adventure will open up for the sheep and they will discover a previously undiscovered new world.