When You Only See the Promised Land

Being a leader is tough for endless reasons. It’s often a thankless job. It can also be a lonely job. And instead of celebrating our successes, we are prone to harp on our failures. There may even be times when we don’t reap the fruits of our labor. With these hard truths living within our journey, every leader needs two characteristics: vision and strength.

These two qualities are necessary for the leader to be successful, to fight through the negativity, and to stay committed in the face of a lack of expected success. We have to have vision for where we are leading our people, and we have to have the strength to get them there.

There’s a verse in Deuteronomy that demonstrates the powerful meshing of these two characteristics very well. Deuteronomy 34:7 says, “Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated.”  

Moses got to see the Promised Land, but he never got to go in, yet his vision (“eye undimmed”) and all of his strength (“vigor unabated”) played an essential role in getting the people of God to the Promised Land.  How selfless, how heroic, how uncommon of him to be committed to a cause he would never get to partake in. On this earth, he never fully reaped the rewards from his years of faithfulness. He only got to see what his heart longed for as he served.

The reality for many leaders today is that we are giving up before the finish line because we see that we aren’t going to get to partake in the fruit of our service. We can be quick to focus on our reward and our success, instead of the true end goal of leading people to the One in which the ultimate promise is found, Jesus.  

Moses knew his call and he knew the greater reason for taking the people to the Promised Land. He knew the promise from God and believed in it. Do you believe in the promises given to you? Do you have the ultimate vision for where your people are going? If you do, it is worth all of your strength to get your team there.

May we be like Moses in that we’re unselfish and so committed to the cause that we see the bigger picture. Leadership is not about me, my success, or my name; it’s about God’s glory. We can often look to the heroes of the Bible and see their success, and naturally we want to be like them, but we often fail to see their struggle. Again, Moses only saw the Promised Land.

We must learn to be ok with the struggle and toil because we know how the story will end. We must remember that God is on the throne, not us. Is there something in you that you need to lay down or put to death so that God can be glorified? For the sake of your team, refocus your attention on the call of God, His promises and devote your strength to them, even if you don’t get to celebrate in the earthly success. Your reward isn’t earthly, but eternal.