“Hahaha, you are joking right!? Me…a team leader…nope that’s not me…”
Yep these were my thoughts when I was called up to team lead at training camp. I looked around and saw so many good leaders, and then I looked at myself and was like “heck no, I am not fit or right to lead a team of people.”
Yet here I am month 11 and I am still a team leader (I did get a break for three months), so in total I have been a team leader for eight months of my race. Did I ever think that I would be leading that long? Nope! Did I ever think that I would want to team lead after getting to pass the baton on? Nope!
For those of you who are about to go into training camp, just finished training camp, or are just starting your race and are in a leadership position, I want to talk to you for a minute. I have found that through my time team leading there are things that the Lord is always constantly working on; trust, belief, and faith.
Trust, that fun word trust. When the leaders at training camp appointed you, or when the squad leaders made you a leader while on the race they obviously saw and see leadership ability in you. They trust you to lead people well. So why wouldn’t you trust yourself? Trust is to have confidence in a person to have firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. Trust is to have confidence, assurance, or certainty. Why is it so difficult to trust that those around you see something in you, why can’t you see it in yourself? Why can’t you trust that God has you right where he wants you to be?
I’ll admit it took me a good bit to trust that I could lead and that the Lord has given me that ability. It was hard to not trust the lies that the enemy was attacking me with, and it was hard to trust in myself enough to really lead with confidence. Yet, here I am today leading with much more assurance in my ability, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t learn anything along the way. I learned and you will learn the ways that you need to lead, your style of leading, and the ability to allow others to step up and lead. So trust yourself, trust the leadership above you, and most importantly trust God with it all.
Belief, is an opinion or judgment in which a person is fully persuaded. So our beliefs are things that we are thoroughly convinced of. Usually (but not always) they are ideas, concepts that we gather through acquiring information and experience. Because of that, our beliefs can change over time as we gain more knowledge and experience more things throughout our lives. With leading whether you think you are able to lead or not what it comes down to is belief in yourself, full undoubted belief that you can lead people and help them step into greatness. Is it easy? No, it’s not even though I wish it was. It has taken me a long to to really believe in myself that I am a leader. There are still days when I fight myself but the Lord knows that I am and he knows what he is doing. If I can believe in God every day that he is guiding me down the right path, then why can’t I believe that he has placed me as a leader?
Finally faith, faith includes our beliefs, but it is bigger than that. Faith requires action. If it doesn’t move us to do something or say something – actually take some kind of action – it’s not really faith at all. James said it this way. Until we take action our “faith” is just a bunch of words. James says that unless faith produces action is in fact dead, or not faith at all. However James didn’t say the good things we do produce faith. He said our faith, if it is real and alive, will naturally move us to do good things. So now that I trust myself, believe in myself I can now have faith in myself. Faith that I am going to lead people well through my faith in Christ. For we can never take God out of the equation, for he is the one giving me the strength, the boldness, the clarity, and the heart to go about each and everyday to lead. If you are feeling like your actions won’t do, throw away that lie right and now and have faith that the road you are on is paved by the one who knows you best, who made you and has placed you right where he wants you to be.
Ultimately my friends, I have learned that to lead well I must trust, believe and have faith that God has it all in his hands. When things go out of my control, or have gone a different way than I thought I have to lay it all down at his feet first. To always make sure to look up before I look out. To all my team leaders, past, present, and future I want you to know that you have done well, are doing well, or are going to do well. I want you to know that I trust you, I believe in you, and I have complete faith in you. Take a deep breath and inhale the peace, confidence, and wisdom of the Lord, he will continually fill you have confidence that he has you here for such a time as this.
