Lead Me (How To Let God Lead) Series

"LEAD ME” (HOW TO LET GOD LEAD)

Psalm 37:5

November 12, 2000

Dr. Bruce D. Weaver

Resistance To Leadership

Today we continue in series we have been going through “HOW TO PUT DARE IN YOUR PRAYER.” Specifically, we will consider the prayer, “LEAD ME,” which allows us to figure out HOW TO LET GOD LEAD.

The first thing we want to do is to reckon with the part of our human nature which drives us to resist leadership. This manifests itself in our relationships with people, let alone with God.

The theme song from the popular television show “Malcolm In The Middle” includes the words, “You’re not the boss of me now…and you’re not so big.” And while we may not all sing this song or use these exact words, we all find ourselves having the attitude expressed in these words and we find ourselves acting on such attitudes.

As I share this observation, I do so with a view just as much toward myself as it is toward anyone else. During my teenage years I caused my parents unnecessary grief in many ways and I had to be reminded by my parents more than once, “As long as you live in this house…” As I have grown older, by God’s grace I have grown to recognize and to appreciate the role of other people providing leadership in my life, but I would be kidding myself and I would be misleading you to to say that I do not wrestle with what it means to resist leadership.

Before we wrap up our consideration of resistance to leadership, I want to share with you a story about Jesus which may surprise some of you, because it demonstrates that even in Jesus’ experience it was not necessarily easy to let God lead. On the night Jesus was betrayed, he prayed to God, ”Father, if you will, please don’t make me suffer by having me drink from this cup.” Luke 22:42a Jesus genuinely wrestled with the difficulty of the task which had been set before him. But then he continued in prayer, ”But do what you want, and not what I want.” Luke 22:42b

So the next time you struggle to pray, “Lead me,” I encourage you to remember it is not an easy prayer to pray. It wasn’t easy for Jesus and it is not easy for us. It is a prayer which requires dare - to go deeper in your relationship with God - to walk more closely with God.

God As Leader

In the film "The Prince Of Egypt," we see the story of Moses portrayed. Moses dared to pray the “Lead me” prayer, but as we observed last Sunday, Moses struggled to allow God to move him beyond his comfort zone. Nevertheless, to the extent that Moses dared to pray, “Lead me,” and then dared to respond to God’s leading, awesome things happened both in his life and in the lives of the people he was called to lead.

Our theme verse for the service today is from Psalm 37:5 - “Let the Lord lead you and trust him to help.” This verse is pretty straightforward in its encouragement for us to let God lead.

And the principle upheld in Psalm 37:5 is lifted up throughout the New Testament as well. In Philippians 2:5-11, we read a wonderful summary of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. At the conclusion of this passage, we read, “everyone will openly agree ‘Jesus Christ is Lord.’” (Philippians 2:11) This was the proclamation of the early church, “Jesus Christ is Lord,” which in other words means, “Jesus Christ is Leader.” And if indeed Jesus Christ is Leader, then one of the most significant and daring prayers we can pray is, “Lead me.”

One Step At A Time

A song called “Step By Step,” written and recorded by Rich Mullins, expresses well the nature of the walk we can have with God, which is a journey with God leading one step at a time.

Recently I was driving down a road when one of my sons asked me if it was a weird feeling to drive when I could not see the road just ahead because of the upward angle of the road due to the hill. I told him that it is a strange feeling, but you get used to it the more you drive in such situations. You learn to trust that the people who built the road continued to build it on the other side beyond where you can see. And then I thought about how much our walk with God is like that. It can be a strange feeling to move ahead with God when we cannot see ahead very far, but just as I trust in the people who built the road, I can trust in God to see me through the roads of life.