Today's devotion begins the section on leading.
I am quite familiar with the scripture passage that forms the basis of Levison's thoughts today, but I have never done a study on this passage, or at least haven't done so in a very long time. In any case, I have wondered about the "shoot...from the stump of Jesse" phrase. I have a number of stumps in my backyard and over the years Beth and I have had to cut the shoots down eventually. Frankly, we have found them kind of annoying. I wondered why Isaiah used this imagery instead of using the imagery of planting a new tree. A shoot is never going to compare with the growth of a new tree.
Levison answered my question with this devotion. The key lies in his italicized sentence found on page 86. He asks, "What then, does inspired leadership consist of?" He answers: "The ability, not to restore the glory days, but to generate, from the ruins, harmony and wholeness, safety, too, in the days ahead."
Near the end of the devotion Levison challenges us: "There may be times in our lives when the Holy Spirit prompts in us hope for a restoration of the glory days. This is not one of the. Now the Holy Spirit anoints someone--perhaps even you--to lead a frightened people into a daunting future." My question is the same as his: "What will you do? What can you do?"
I am quite familiar with the scripture passage that forms the basis of Levison's thoughts today, but I have never done a study on this passage, or at least haven't done so in a very long time. In any case, I have wondered about the "shoot...from the stump of Jesse" phrase. I have a number of stumps in my backyard and over the years Beth and I have had to cut the shoots down eventually. Frankly, we have found them kind of annoying. I wondered why Isaiah used this imagery instead of using the imagery of planting a new tree. A shoot is never going to compare with the growth of a new tree.
Levison answered my question with this devotion. The key lies in his italicized sentence found on page 86. He asks, "What then, does inspired leadership consist of?" He answers: "The ability, not to restore the glory days, but to generate, from the ruins, harmony and wholeness, safety, too, in the days ahead."
Near the end of the devotion Levison challenges us: "There may be times in our lives when the Holy Spirit prompts in us hope for a restoration of the glory days. This is not one of the. Now the Holy Spirit anoints someone--perhaps even you--to lead a frightened people into a daunting future." My question is the same as his: "What will you do? What can you do?"
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