The Burdens of Leadership

If you have ever been the leader of any kind of group or organization, you likely know that along with the joys and satisfaction you can derive from it, that there can be a lot of frustration and discouragement.  Some people will never be satisfied with decisions you make – always second-guessing you and believing they know a better way.   If the group experiences successes, then you may have some people that are envious, especially if it results in you personally receiving any recognition for that success.  Sometimes that envy can escalate to the point of stirring up dissension.  Oh, and heaven forbid that there be any hardships or failures!  Then the finger-pointing and blame games  start.  The buck definitely stops on your desk.    

Take a look in Exodus.  I actually find this call to leadership pretty humorous at times.  Moses was minding his own business, taking care of his father-in-law’s sheep and goats.  Then, he had an encounter with God.  God tells him that he wants him to go to the King of Egypt and lead his people out.  The response?  “‘But I’m not the person for a job like that!’ Moses exclaimed.”  (Exodus 3:11 TLB)  God kept pressing Moses, assuring him that He would be with him and that he would be capable of leading.  

But, then in Exodus 4:10 (VOICE) Moses says: “‘Please, Lord, I am not a talented speaker. I have never been good with words. I wasn’t when I was younger and I haven’t gotten any better since You revealed Yourself to me. I stutter and stammer. My words get all twisted.’”    

You’d think that God would just throw up His hands at this point and tell Moses to forget it, that He could find someone that was obedient and would be happy to do His work.  But no, He kept reasoning with Moses and pushing him to accept this challenge.  However, Moses didn’t seem to be swayed by God’s assurances and continued to resist.  “But Moses said, ‘My Lord, I beg you to send someone else, not me.’  Then the Lord became angry with Moses and said, ‘All right! I’ll give you someone to help you. Aaron the Levite is your brother, isn’t he? He is a good speaker. In fact, Aaron is already coming to meet you…I will tell you what to say. Then you will tell Aaron, and I will help him say it well. I will tell both of you what to do. So Aaron will speak for you. Like God, you will speak to him, and he will tell the people what you say.’”  (Exodus 4:13-16 ERV)

Oops!  Now Moses has no excuses left to throw out.  I’m sure all of you know the story of how Moses and Aaron arrive in Egypt and all that happens there, resulting in the deliverance of the Israelites.  Then the challenges began – in Exodus 14 you can read about their first test – they’re backed up to the Red Sea and all the Egyptian army is pursuing them – the whining, the “I told you so’s” start.  But an apparent strong, confident, “new” Moses finally steps up and exhibits the qualities of a true leader:  “But Moses told the people, ‘Don’t be afraid. Just stand where you are and watch, and you will see the wonderful way the Lord will rescue you today. The Egyptians you are looking at—you will never see them again. The Lord will fight for you, and you won’t need to lift a finger!’”  (Exodus 14:13-14 TLB)

We know that God saved the Israelites and then they began their journey to the Promised Land.  Moses continues to exhibit strong leadership, but the grumbling behind the scenes and even to his face never seemed to stop.  The people are not grateful for the protection God has given them and they resented Moses as he tried to keep moving on to the end goal.  Consequently they refused to follow Moses’ recommendations and assurances.  The result is that they paid the price – their assured success was delayed for 40 years and hardships ensued.  Then more complaining began in earnest.  

If you read Numbers 11:10-15 you can see that Moses seems to be at the point he’s had all he can handle.  He’s done all he knows to do, obeying God as he leads this ungrateful group of people.  Then:  “He prayed: ‘I am your servant, Lord, so why are you doing this to me? What have I done to deserve this? You’ve made me responsible for all these people, but they’re not my children. You told me to nurse them along and to carry them to the land you promised their ancestors…This job is too much for me. How can I take care of all these people by myself? If this is the way you’re going to treat me, just kill me now and end my miserable life!’”

The frustration of working tirelessly to be a good leader has reached the point he can no longer deal with it.  He’d rather die than endure any more of the ungrateful people he’s been leading.  

“Moses’ touching prayer to God for help could be the prayer of many a spiritual leader emotionally exhausted by the responsibilities which he bears.”*

How many of our spiritual leaders today feel a burden because of the people they’re attempting to lead in God’s way?  The job just feels thankless.  How many of them are to the point of physical and emotional exhaustion?  Are we like the grumbling Israelites, ever bucking the system, never listening to the assurances taught to us by our leaders?  Do we think we know best and resent success while placing blame for any little thing that goes wrong?  Instead of seeking God’s will in prayer, do we pray for God to do things the way WE want them to be?  If so, we should be ashamed!  Importantly, if you are in a place where you cannot respect your spiritual leader and respect their position of leadership, then you’re likely at the wrong place and need to search out a new leader.  Stop your grumbling and move on.  

It’s time for us to respect our Godly leaders and their position in our midst.  They have the ear of God and hopefully a heart and mind to hear His voice directing them in His way.  Because of their leadership position, we need to trust that they likely have information we aren’t privy to.  We need to understand that their position of leadership gives them an overview of the big picture that we cannot see.  We need to be determined to do our best to lift the burden of their leadership.  

Written by Karran Martin – February 24, 2024   

*F. LaGard Smith’s commentary from The Narrated Bible – page 168