When they had finished dividing the land into its allotted portions, the Israelites gave Joshua son of Nun an inheritance among them … - Joshua 19:49

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 10, 2015): Joshua 19

Rudyard Kipling’s “If” is a leadership lesson that I think we all need to learn. The first stanza simply says -

If you can keep your head when all about you

                        Are losing theirs and blaming it on you

            If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you

                        But make allowance for their doubting too;

            If you can wait and not be tired by waiting

                        Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies

            Or being hated, don’t give way to hating

                        And yet look too good, or talk too wise:

I admit, I have to constantly remind myself of the words. I don’t like being blamed, or hated, or lied about, but it seems to be a constant reality. There always seem to be those who want nothing more than to capitalize on my mistakes (and unfortunately I have made my share) and refuse to give real forgiveness. All they want is to make the offender pay.

But, if you will lead, these are the things that will happen and to which we must not react. And that is a hard lesson to learn (I am still trying.) So Rudyard Kipling’s poem continually draws me back in. If you can keep your head … If you can trust yourself … If you can wait and be lied about … if you can ignore the hating. If you can realize that all that is going on is simply not about you, then you are ready to lead.

Joshua seems to be all that Rudyard Kipling was speaking out in the poem – and maybe more. He seemed to be able to keep his head, even in the midst of things that refused to go his way. He trusted not just himself, but his connection with God giving him a confidence that no one else had. He kept his critics at bay, listening but never allowing the lies to shake him. And, in the end, he was humble enough to take care of everyone else before he received his own inheritance, taking hold of the things that were promised to him. He avoided the trap of thinking higher of himself then he was – and setting himself up for a fall.

This is the mark of a true leader – they are willing to delay the gratification of their own desires in favor of those they serve.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Joshua 20