Monday Memo 1277: Prepare Them for Their Future

Jehosheba — 2 Kings 11:1–3; 2 Chronicles 22:10–12

This week in our continuing Power of Purple series on women of purpose in Scripture, we meet Jehosheba, a woman whose decisive action helped prepare someone else for his future. When Athaliah saw that her son Ahaziah was dead, she set out to destroy the rest of the royal family so she could rule Judah herself. In the middle of that murderous campaign, one woman acted quickly. Jehosheba took the infant Joash from among the royal princes who were about to be killed and hid him, along with his nurse, from Athaliah.

Joash survived because Jehosheba saw what needed to be done and did it. Yet her story wasn't simply about rescuing a child. She and her husband, Jehoiada the priest, hid Joash for six years while Athaliah ruled the land. Then, when the time was right, Jehoiada brought him out, presented him to the people, and Joash was crowned king. There was a long period between rescue and release, and that gives us an important lesson about purpose.

SEE WHAT OTHERS CAN BECOME

Some people have a special ability to see potential in others. They recognize a gift, talent, interest, or leadership ability that is present but not yet fully developed. Then they find satisfaction in helping that person grow into what they can become.

Perhaps that's a teacher who sees something in a student that others have missed. It could be a coach who recognizes athletic ability, a pastor who gives a young leader an opportunity, or a businessperson who takes time to train someone with potential. The people may change over the years, but the pattern remains the same: you see potential and help prepare people for their future. That's purpose too.

We tend to think of purpose only in terms of what we are going to accomplish. Yet your purpose may include helping other people accomplish things they aren't yet ready to do. You can't fulfill their purpose for them, but you can help them recognize, develop, and express it.

A PURPOSE PASTOR

For 35 years, I have developed resources to help people find and fulfill their purpose. I haven't been interested in simply talking about purpose as an interesting spiritual concept. I want people to identify their purpose, develop it, and then do something with it. That's also why I have taught that every church should have a purpose pastor.

Churches have worship pastors, youth pastors, children's pastors, and others assigned to specific areas of ministry. Why shouldn't there be someone whose responsibility is to help people discover why God created them and then find practical ways to express that purpose? That person wouldn't tell people what their purpose is, but would help create an environment where purpose can emerge and mature.

A purpose pastor could ask questions, identify patterns, recommend resources, encourage gifts, and help people find opportunities to put what they're learning into practice. In that sense, Jehosheba gives us a picture of something I have tried to do for decades. She recognized something worth preserving and helped create an environment where it could survive and develop until its time came.

THEY AREN'T READY YET

Joash was destined to become king, but he certainly wasn't ready to become king when Jehosheba rescued him. He was an infant. His potential was real, but so was his need for protection and preparation.

Seeing someone's potential doesn't mean pretending they're ready when they aren't. In fact, putting people into positions before they're prepared can damage them and those they're supposed to serve. Potential needs time to mature, and if developing others is part of your purpose, patience will have to be part of it as well.

You can teach, encourage, correct, provide resources, and open doors, but you can't hurry someone else's development. There is a time for preparation and then a time for release.

LET THEM GO

Eventually Joash had to emerge from hiding. He couldn't remain protected in the temple forever because the very reason he had been preserved was so that one day he could become king. Good mentors understand that and don't need people to remain dependent on them.

A good teacher wants students to learn without the teacher, and a good leader wants those being developed to become leaders themselves. Your success may be measured by what others go on to accomplish after your direct involvement with them has ended.

This isn't about accepting a number-two position because you're afraid to pursue your own purpose. Developing other people may actually be your purpose. The evidence will usually be a pattern. People seek you out, you see things in them that perhaps they don't yet see, and you find yourself helping them become better at what they were created to do.

Jehosheba couldn't become king for Joash, and she couldn't fulfill his purpose. She could, however, help protect and prepare him until the time came for him to step forward. Perhaps you have been doing something similar without recognizing it as purpose. Who has developed because you invested in them? Who is doing something today that you helped prepare them to do?

Sometimes one of the greatest expressions of your purpose is helping someone else become ready to fulfill theirs.

Purpose Principle: Your purpose may include recognizing potential in others, helping them develop it, and preparing them to express their own purpose when their time comes.