Recently I had the privilege of teaching a class before an experienced group of key personnel within a large organization. I posed a very calculated question to the class in order to gauge their level of understanding on the subject of leadership. I asked them to give me their definition of a leader. Several good answers circulated around the room such as: a follower, a good steward of finances, someone with the ability to organize… and a plethora of other well-intended explanations. But none truly described what a leader is.

Through the answers presented I observed one of the greatest challenges to a nation, a company, a family, and most importantly a church. The response of this well trained, battle-tested group revealed that we are confused on what a leader really is.

What was described, was not the resume of a leader but a perfect profile of a manager. The shocking truth is that our world has a shortage of leaders, and an abundance of managers. We are over-managed and under-led. Picture if you will an organization trapped in a jungle with only one objective, and that is escape. You have a strong group of laborers, a highly trained management core, and a leader. The leader climbs to the top of the highest tree and yells down to the managers and gives them instructions to forge ahead due north. The management team gets together and devises a master strategy to execute the command of the leader. The workers receive the plan motivated by their desire to get out of this predicament. They begin chopping through the dense foliage and are so efficient that they break the time lines of the managers and are ahead of schedule. Every one is motivated, moral is high, they are operating as a well-oiled machine.

After days of progress the leader calls back down from his elevated position tells the managers to stop the work, turn around and go in the opposite direction. The managers get upset with the leader, they rehearse how effective their planning was, they had all the right training classes, rotations executed for maximum effectiveness and it all worked to perfection. The workers are mad at the managers, they did what was expected, they exceeded expectations, they worked their fingers to the bone, and now they have the audacity to cause this brilliant work to cease. What the managers fail to realize, and the workers who are on the ground can't see is that the leader spotted after the clearing an impassible wall. Although they made great strides they were going in the wrong direction!

A leaders primary attribute is his ability to see the future. You may ask what all this has to do with the Holy Spirit. John 16:13 tells us that the Holy Spirit is the one who, "Leads us into all truth". The Spirit of the living God has several operations, but perhaps none greater than His ability to lead us. Where would we be without the trail blazing effect of God's spirit? We would have great systems without a goal, well-organized groups with no vision, perfectly planned strategies without purpose.

As the master leader He must be accessed and consulted in order to see what's ahead. We must look beyond just his leading as it relates to a church or organization. You need the Holy Spirit to be your personal compass to navigate through the difficult terrain of life. When you find yourself over-managing the circumstances of your everyday efforts to succeed. When you over analyze your situation. When you try to figure out how to reach your teenager, how to get through to your spouse, how to overcome an addiction, and after all that you are no better off, that's the time to ask the Holy Spirit for guidance, ask him to lead you into truth.

One definition of truth from the original Greek in this verse is, "truth as a personal excellence, that candor of mind which is free from affection, pretence, simulation, falsehood, deceit.”

The devil is the father of lies, and he specializes in weaving a web of deceit to make it appear as if your problem is too great for God. It is the Holy Spirit that leads us out of the lie and into the truth that God is still a Savior of lost souls, a deliver from addiction, a master healer and a family repairer.

So it is this leading into truth that brings you to a mental freedom in knowing that no matter how bad it may seem, we can trust the Holy Spirit to guide us to our victory. God doesn't always reveal all the details of how to get through what you are dealing with, but he has sent his Spirit to comfort you and show you the way out. So, I challenge you today to stop the futile attempt to change the circumstances of your life and trust God's most precious gift, the Holy Spirit, to lead you out of all falsehood, lies, and tricks of the enemy into God’s perfect love, grace, forgiveness, and abundance.

You can also view highly informative programs in our media center by clicking below:

• Paula White Ministries Media Center

If you liked this article you might also like:

• Pentecost: Acts 2:1-4
• May: The Holy Spirit and Pentecost

Thank you so much for your continued support! We could NOT do this without you!...