Someone God Can Use
Nancie Carmichael
A few years ago, I was asked to speak on leadership. I was shocked. “Who, me?” I sure didn’t think of myself as a leader. I was just doing the next thing. I was a wife, a mother. My husband and I were pastors and I taught Bible study. I was a beginning writer. Now as I look back, I see key people who influenced me: Grandma Ferlen, an 89-year-old woman who taught me to pray when I was a young mother; our beloved pastors, Dorothy and Earl Book, who encouraged our spiritual growth; Victor Oliver, an editor and writer, who encouraged me to be authentic in my writing. And of course, my parents, whose faith was contagious and real. I doubt that any of these people considered themselves to be leaders; but each was a profound influence in my life and were indeed godly leaders.
Each of these people showed me that God was my strength, and he could use me, too. They let me into their lives, and by their example, encouraged me to grow.
God has a calling for each of us and I’m convinced leadership becomes a by-product of the way we live. Before you insist, “I am not a leader,” remember that each of us has influence. Leadership is what we do with that influence. We live what is important to us; what motivates us; drives us. And that becomes contagious. An unknown writer wrote, “To me, ‘twas not the truth you taught—to you so clear, to me so dim; but when you came to me, you brought a sense of Him…”
Moses’ life is a powerful example of leadership. It was not easy, leading the children of Israel out of Egypt, as they’d lived there over 400 years. Sure, they were slaves, but the food was good. Moses gave God a list of reasons why he couldn’t do it: “O my Lord I am not eloquent 1…I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”(1) God’s persistent response: “I am the Lord…I will be with you.” (2)
What God calls us to may not be as dramatic as Moses’ calling. Yet like Moses, we often tell God what we cannot do, or what we are incapable of doing. But He offers each of us the same thing that he offered Moses: his presence. In Christ’s kingdom, each of us can make a difference and we can:
Understand where our strength comes from: “Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.” Eph. 6:10
Use our influence to invest in others: “Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” Phil. 2:4
Generously give out of what God has given: “the… God of all comfort… comforts us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble...” 1 Cor. 1:3,4
1. Exodus 4:10
2. Exodus 3:12
