Move when God moves – We are all about strategies, goals, and plans. Leaders are measured on the effectiveness of their plans – on the size of their vision and their ability to communicate that vision.

In the Christian context there is another key ingredient – discerning when God is moving. The instructions Joshua gave to the children of Israel (Joshua 3) was that they were to move when they saw the Ark of the Covenant (the sign of the presence of God) move. It was the presence of God that determined the timing. How often have leaders tried to force decisions or created ministries only to have them fail because God wasn’t moving. It may have been a great idea but God wasn’t ready.

It also says in chapter three that following the Ark was how they would know the way because they had not been that way before. God always leads us into places we have not been before – He does it so that we will be dependent on Him and so that He will get the glory.

We have generally been taught to make plans, bathe them in prayer and expect God to bless. It seems that a better way is to pray to see where and when God is moving and then join Him. If He is moving and we join Him we can expect there will be Godly success and we will find incredible peace and rest.

When we can get the responsibility for ministry shifted back to where it belongs - on Him, we can begin to be leaders who watch for His move first instead of leaders who step out on our own praying that God will bless our efforts. The latter position has great risk. The first has only the risk that I might not see when He moves. It requires paying attention to Him more than anything else.