By: Pastor Jarren Rogers

If you want to be a better leader, it is wise to take a look at the person who led one of the most impatient, unruly, disrespectful, ungrateful, groups of all time.

The Israelites. They were a difficult group to lead. There was that time they ran out of water and their first reaction was to throw themselves back into slavery. Or what about the time that their leader left for a little while and, before you know it, they are building idols? Or how about that time they describe Egypt, their previous captors, as flowing with milk and honey–the same words used to describe the Promised Land? The Israelites were a tough bunch.

Because of this, I think that we can easily put Moses on the “Top Ten Leaders of All Time” list. Right up there with John Maxwell and Andy Stanley.

Moses should be a case study in what it means to be a good leader. He is patient, he is humble, and he even defends his people against the wrath of God. On top of this, Moses shows us how to deal with the difficult and demanding people in our life–we all have them.

Take Numbers 16 for example. In this chapter, Moses and Aaron are approached by 250 of Israel’s leaders. They begin to challenge the leadership of Moses Aaron, saying:

“You have gone too far! All the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. So why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?” (Numbers 16:3).

In other words, what makes you so special that you get to lead Israel?

Imagine that you lead an entire nation, thousands of people, and you are approached by your leadership team and they want to give you the boot. How would you respond?

Take a look at Moses:

“When Moses heard it, he fell on his face” (Numbers 16:4).

This is Moses’ first response, his first course of action. When faced with opposition from his people, his first posture is one of humility.

So often, when faced with persecution or pushback, we take a defensive stance. We respond by lashing out, by making excuses, by opposing our aggressors. But instead, Moses falls on his face in humility.

I don’t think this posture was only a symbol of humility towards his people, but also a sign of humility towards God. Moses readily accepted the fact that he didn’t have all the answers. He would have probably agreed that he wasn’t the best leader for Israel. But rather than fight back, he took a humble stance and allowed God to defend him.

And if you read the rest of chapter 16, you’ll see that God did just that and more.

What Moses shows us is that humility is what God requires of us. Even we people come against us, when they attempt to poke holes in our character, when they spread lies about us, we should fall on our faces in humility before them and God.

Humility shows others that we do not live for ourselves, rather we live for God. He fills us with His Spirit and defines our path. He gives us what we need and fills our lungs with breath. We are nothing without Him.

So why should we act any different?