Encouraging Leaders – Numbers 32

⁷ Now why will you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord has given them? ⁸ Thus your fathers did when I sent them away from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. ⁹ For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, so that they did not go into the land which the Lord had given them. ¹⁰ So the Lord’s ANGER was aroused on that day, and He swore an oath, saying, ¹¹ ‘Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me, ¹² except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord.’ ¹³ So the Lord’s anger was aroused against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was gone. ¹⁴ And look! You have risen in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel. ¹⁵ For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”

In life we all need “encouragers”, people that when we feel like we’re spinning the wheels in one place or we have a blurred vision they give us that little push because from the outside they can see what the stormy clouds is not allowing us to see causing us to despair.  As a lost person, almost twenty years ago, I saw that encourager gift in some people and it attracted me, what I didn’t know was it was God, because those people would go to a different church, and as a young girl I wasn’t allowed to interact too much with those “evangelicals”.

Now grown, and not only a part of those “evangelicals” but a minister of that group of people, it’s funny but more sad than funny, that sometimes looking for those encouragers within the group, I have a hard time finding them; in ministry!!! Then, it means if I’m having a hard time finding them within our midst, what are we witnessing to the world out there?

Here we have Moses trying to reason with a small group of his people, because instead of keep going together to the land God had promised them, this small group wanted to stay in the place they were in, and in doing that the rest of God’s people would be discouraged. Moses then decided to remind this small group the consequences their ancestor went through as they did the same thing, and the Lord got very angry with them.

And thinking as leaders, we are still people who need encouragement! And its terrible to see someone who is surrounded by “leaders” and the people of God and still have little or no support due to the busyness of that same people. I pray to be an encourager every day not only for the people of God, but for those that do not know the Lord as I present the salvation plan. But in spite of the reasons or excuses these leaders might express for not to encourage others, to see the lack of support, it saddens my spirit.

Like Moses asked this group of people that wanted to stay back, I ask you, don’t you see how angry the Lord got that not only those that spread discouragement didn’t make it in, but even those that heard the discouraging words, didn’t make it!

People in ministry, we NEED to support and encourage each other!!!  I rejoice when I see or hear a group of ministers that fellowship weekly as they part the bread of life together, it really gives me hope.  For I’ve seen how hard the walk is, and how rocky the roads can be, but we MUST encourage each other for these people on the land we are living today are NOT going to be able to make it, if we do not lead them right.  We are the living testimony of what GOD can and will do for those that follow Him. And in order for us to lead them right, we definitely need JESUS above all, but here on earth HE placed us together as a whole to work TOGETHER in leading this nation; and working so independently that we do not need each other is NOT going to help us or make our task easier!

I like to encourage you to make yourself available and within your weekly schedule include a fellowship/mentoring sessions of one or two hours, If you aren’t a part of one already, the blessings will be mutual.  And do not fall into the pit by saying that your maturity is at a level where you do not need that anymore, that’s pride, for none of us arrived to where God has for us, otherwise we’ll be gone with Him.  For the love of God, look back to what the Bible is showing us here; we really, DO NOT WANT to anger the Lord, just like they did.

I pray in the name of Jesus, HE get ready of any prideful spirit in each of our hearts and allow us to take this word to our hearts and immediately get us into our prayer closet to find out who are those we need to be encouraging to; and how often. And I pray as HE reveals to us, HE develops a willing heart for us to follow to the t what God is telling us to do. And I pray in Jesus name, and for HIS glory, AMEN!!!