What situations in your leadership life are changing dramatically? (71-3)

Miriam was Moses’ sister. Miriam is only mentioned a few times in the story of the Hebrew exodus from captivity in Egypt, but each time she is talked about in terms of being an influencer (a leader). Read Exodus 2:1-10; Exodus 15:19-20; Numbers 12; Numbers 20:1.

Miriam was used by God as an influencer from her childhood. When Moses was an infant and his parents had him placed in the Nile in a basket in hopes of avoiding the infanticide demanded by law, it was Miriam who the parents trusted to not only place him in the river at the proper place and moment so he would be found by Pharaoh’s daughter but they also trusted Miriam to make contact with Pharaoh’s daughter and persuade the princess to allow her to find a Hebrew nursemaid. Miriam had the courage to accept a difficult assignment and follow it through to completion.

Two more times Miriam is mentioned as a person in leadership; the Bible indicates one very positive incident when she led worship at the crossing of the Red Sea and one very negative incident when she challenged Moses’ leadership and God’s choices.

We do not have any information concerning Miriam’s life during the 80 years of Moses’ growing up, becoming a man, and serving as a shepherd for his father-in-law. But it would appear that she maintained some influence with the Hebrew women because when she picked up a tambourine to spontaneously lead the women in worship after the safe crossing of the Red Sea, the women quickly joined in to follow her lead. Miriam was a consistent, life-long influencer among the Hebrew people.

Effective leaders adjust to the differing life situations and leadership challenges. Leaders will face a wide range of demands on their skills. We will all face times when we need to take action in the face of our own fears, when consistency is demanded over a long period of seemingly unproductive time, when we will be the one to inspire celebration and times we need to overcome mistakes.

What situations in your leadership life are changing dramatically? Which of those situations will require you to change your leadership style or methods? What will you do to display consistency to your team even during the change of style or method?