Pentecost: How self-leadership helps us follow God’s leading
We return to our Pentecost series this week with inspiration from author and speaker Joanna Watson, who seeks to share stories and reflections that show how God’s light, hope and miraculous power break in through the cracks. She also leads a large team for Tearfund, a Christian relief and development organisation.
How self-leadership helps us follow God’s leading
When I first sensed God asking me to write a book of miracle stories, I felt utterly unqualified, and tried my best to ignore him.
But God had different plans, and the seed of the idea started to germinate.
Within the space of eighteen months, three different Christians, all unknown to me, spoke prophetically into my life – a Costa Rican in London, an Australian in Oxford, and a South African in Johannesburg.
On each occasion, the message and method were consistent: I needed to write down my stories and the stories of those around me, because they would impact many people, and this needed to be spoken over me in front of other people, so there would be witnesses to hold me accountable.
When my book ‘baby’ was finally birthed in November 2021, there was much rejoicing!
What I had carried for so long in private was finally out in the public domain.
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It’s been said that, “God doesn’t call the qualified; he qualifies the called”.
It took me a while to realise that this was true for me but, in asking me to write a book of miracle stories, God had already qualified me for what he was calling me to do.
You see, strictly speaking, I could be dead.
While on holiday in the USA, the car I was in plunged over the edge of a mountain road into pitch black darkness. It hurtled down about 50 metres – until it crashed to a stop, flipped, and ended on its roof. Upside down and held in by my seatbelt, I had fractured my spine in two places.
Put simply: God saved my life.
What followed was a series of “God-incidences”, giving me first-hand experience of miracles, which he didn’t want wasted – and so it is that the story of my car accident forms the opening chapter in my book of miracle stories, “Light through the Cracks: How God Breaks In When Life Turns Tough”.
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How many of us, as leaders, feel utterly unqualified when God calls us into new and unexpected ventures? How many of us try our best to ignore him? How many of us struggle to realise that he has equipped us for his calling?
When wrestling with these things, we need to start with self-leadership: “Will I step up and obey? Will I step out and take a risk? If I don’t do this, who else will?”
It takes a mix of confidence, courage and conviction:
· Confidence that we are hearing God correctly.
· Courage to obey what we believe he is asking of us.
· Conviction that he will help us take the risk involved.
If I learnt anything through the long journey of getting my book to publication, it was this:
God calls. God equips. But he also expects us to step out, self-lead, and follow his leading.
“Light through the Cracks: How God Breaks In When Life Turns Tough” is available from all good bookshops. Signed copies are available from the author at joannawatson.co.uk.
