Your key differentiator as a leader is neither your education nor your experience. What sets you apart from ten thousand others is how fully God is able to express himself through you.

Pharaoh was looking for someone who could serve and save his country. There was only one man for the job. That man 

* had been sold into slavery by his brothers 
*  had performed so well as a slave that he was placed in complete authority over the household of a significant leader 
* had so well managed a prison that the warden had nothing to do 
* had so well interpreted dreams that he ended up in front of Pharaoh in a moment that would shift the sands of time forever

This is the point in the story when I get to ask, “And what are your plans for today?” 

Leaders can feel guilty when they read about guys like Joseph and Daniel, Deborah and Priscilla. Comparison feels good when we compare ourselves to our subpar peers, but these leaders are truly incomparable. 

Leaders, God can and will use us in significant ways when we prepare day by day for that moment when God wants to put his power on display. 

How yielded to the will and ways of God are you? 

How open are you to a seismic shift in your leadership capacity?

How prepared are you should the spotlight fall on you today providing you with the concentrated focus demanding evidence of God’s good, pleasing, and perfect will? (See Romans 12:1, 2.)

God-led leaders are humble and God-confident. God is Big and they are small. Take a look at verse 16:

“It is beyond my power to do this,” Joseph replied. “But God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.”

If your idea of leadership is how Big you are, you have the wrong god.

When the going got tough, Pharaoh sent everyone to Joseph.

Eventually, however, the famine spread throughout the land of Egypt as well.
And when the people cried out to Pharaoh for food, he told them, “Go to Joseph, and do whatever he tells you.”
(Verse 55)

Clear evidence of a God-yielded soul leads to God-empowered leadership that benefits everyone. It is the Abraham Rule again. God blessed Joseph to bless the whole world. 

Spoiler alert: Take a glance at the end of this story.

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good.
He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.”
(Genesis 50:20).

Today is a good day to give God more ground in your soul. It’s a good day to break down any remaining walls, to open any closed doors, to allow God’s Spirit to blow fresh wind through the cobwebbed halls of your life, to allow God’s fire to warm up your heart and to enlighten your mind. 

You can lean on who you have become, or you can lean into who God wants you to be. We live in a world ready for another Joseph or Daniel, Deborah or Priscilla. Be that man. Be that woman. Be that leader our world longs for.

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I will give God free rein in my life to do whatever he wants to bless whomever he wants through me.

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Our Father, thank you for Hebrews 11 leaders. Thank you for those who led with integrity and character, who yielded their lives to you. You blessed the whole world through them. You bless our world today through the ongoing lessons of their lives. Empower us and use us as you used them. This old word needs this kind of leadership. Amen.