Delegating

One important concept to master as a leader is knowing your strengths and weaknesses. The next skill to learn is how to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of others. Then, you can match those skills to the task at hand and set yourself and your team up for success. When you identify those skills or gaps, you should formulate a plan to fill them. Sometimes the solution is additional training or learning; other times, it might mean delegating.

There are times when we either try to delegate a task we are destined to do or hold on to a task meant for others to fulfill their purpose. We need to pray and ask God for His plan. God can see the big picture that we cannot. We need to honor God by correctly identifying what we should do and what we should delegate. There are times where we need to pass the baton to others. By passing the baton, we enable people to live out God's will for their life. We can take a look at Moses' life to see both of these scenarios in action.

We need to know when to train ourselves for the task at hand and when to hand the task over to someone who is more qualified. In Exodus 4:13, we see Moses asking God to delegate the task of leading the children of Israel out of Egypt to someone else. Moses doesn’t feel he can handle such a grand task. However, what Moses failed to do when he asked God to send someone else was trust that God would provide the help he needed. God delegates the task of speaking to the Israelites to Aaron. While Moses’ intention was to avoid his God-given purpose, God used Aaron to help him fulfill his destiny.

In contrast, Moses also tried to do what should have been delegated. In Exodus 18:13-26, Moses was overwhelmed by the task of serving as a judge for the people of Israel. Moses’ father-in-law Jethro could see this task was too large for Moses to handle alone. He encouraged him to train a team of judges in the law that could help settle small disputes. This freed Moses to handle the more difficult cases. What Moses had to do was train and equip his team of judges in God’s word. He had to choose trustworthy individuals to handle this task. It is not just about training individuals to delegate to; it is about training the right individuals.

God uses mankind to delegate tasks for us to handle on the earth. Clearly, God doesn’t need us to handle these tasks. I believe God delegates these tasks to us to bring Him glory and to see if we are committed to Him. With that being said, He equips us with the talent to perform the work, but we need to be willing vessels. This shows God we are committed to doing His will and honoring Him by using our lives for His purpose.