Isaiah 30:21 “And your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, 'This is the way walk in it, when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.'” 

We all face challenges every day that we live and as a leader, these challenges are even more important. Why? It is because how we handle them impacts both us and those whom God has given us to lead. Leading your family has never been more challenging and important than today. Challenges come in many forms and in degrees of severity and priority. They can arise from financial problems, health issues, personal trauma, family crises, marriage stress, work troubles, personal relationships and many others. For the leader these are personal and test our leadership and spiritual maturity. It is not a matter of “if” we will face them. It is a matter of “when.” As a Christian leader, you must know what to do and prepare in advance of how you will handle challenges when they come. We have a book, God’s Word, and we have a God to prepare us and to be immediately available to face it all.

As a Christian leader, our first move should be to pray and hear by the Holy Spirit what God wants us to do. He will guide us, and we are to search the Scriptures for the answers He has for us in the challenge. He will be faithful to His Word like in our verse this week, “And your ears shall hear a word behind you saying that this is the way, walk in it.” Notice that this verse says “a word behind you.” This means that God sees the challenge and is standing right behind you and even in front of you to walk with you through it. This principle is also predicated on our building God’s Word into our heart to be prepared for whatever may come. My wife and I had some real challenges this past week on what was to be a welcomed vacation in the cool climate of Colorado. When we arrived on location, our reservation was all mixed up, and we had to take an alternate and less desirable unit. This ordeal took time away from our vacation time and challenged our Christian witness. Then two days before our time was to be concluded, we received a call from our neighbor that we had a major water leak at our house and concern that the flooding might be inside the house. So, what did we do? We started praying for a safe all night trip home and that the inside of our home was not flooded. God answered both prayers, and the challenges were met head on with praise to our loving Father as we walked in His way. As we drove 16 hours home all night, it was as if God was leading us all the way with a bright moon overhead all 975 miles of the way. When we entered our home to see no water inside, we got on our knees and gave Him praise and thanks. It was not a life and death challenge, but it was a challenge that we had to face.