The Baton
“Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it.””
Moses passed on the baton to Joshua.
I am reading a beautiful devotional at the moment by a good friend, Ron Wesson, called “Everlasting Arms”. In it, he reminds us that we have to hand over the baton, to delegate - it is such a finely, balanced duty to perform.
It is like giving your child the key when they turn 21-years old. Or handing over that business when your son comes of age, that farm or that ministry. It is so technical - if you do it too soon he will drop the baton and the race is over. If you take too long, he will leave to go and make his way somewhere else.
That is when you have got to know the Holy Spirit.
You see Jesus says in John 16:7: “I will send the Holy Spirit. I will send Him to you and He will show you how to do it.” We need to hand over that baton gradually, otherwise, it will get dropped and the race is over.
I remember like yesterday, in 2010 - that is already 11 years ago, the Holy Spirit spoke into my heart. He said to me: “That is the last Mighty Men Conference you will have on Shalom Farm.” I got a lot of flack... A lot of men said to me, “You are stopping the revival, you can’t do that.”
But God had told me it was time to hand over the baton to the young men. And look at what has happened since then - we have got Mighty Men Conferences taking place all over the globe.
There comes a time when you have to delegate. Remember, when that race is on, that race that is so critical, there is a certain area where you have to pass the baton on. You have got to release it, you can’t hold onto it, otherwise, you are disqualified. If you hand it over too quickly, it'll get dropped and the race is over for you. You just have a few metres in which to do it.
Now the way you do it is to introduce your son to the business. You start to speak to your daughter, mother, about what it means to be a young lady who is escorted out by a suitor. It doesn’t just happen overnight - it is a process that starts when they are still in the cradle... then God gets all the glory!
Do not be afraid. Lean heavily on the Holy Spirit and He will direct your paths.
Have a wonderful day.