When God calls our name as leaders, He is not looking for a weak response of “I’m here”. He’s not interested in the bored or quiet “here” that we sometimes utter when we’re called upon to sound off in travel groups or classrooms. God is looking for us to say “Here I am” with gusto.
Though the world may be shaking, our rooted faith in God grounds us as leaders so that we can respond with readiness, strength and courage. God calls us to follow Him and be his apprentices. He calls us to love others (the Great Commandment), he calls us to tell others about him (the Great Commission), and He tells us to subdue the earth (the Cultural Mandate).
Our response to all these requests from God is to say, “Here I am!”
In Hebrew, it’s all one word. It’s the word Hineni. In the Torah, each time the word Hineni is used, it signifies a turning point, a potentially life-changing moment requiring decision, action and resolution. It means you’re saying to God, “I am absolutely focused on your desires for me. I am here waiting for your direction.”
It’s our response to God’s call on our lives. It’s our way of saying, “Thank you for choosing me, saving me, giving me a purpose in life and giving me hope of eternity.”
The Lord called six leaders in the Old Testament of the Bible. Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Samuel, Isaiah and Ananias. Each one of them said, “Here I am!”.
Let’s focus on Abraham for a moment. He actually responded “Here I am” three times.
Hineni #1
In Genesis 22:1 the writer notes that, “After these things” (these good things that had been going on in Abraham’s life), “God tested Abraham and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ and Abraham said, ‘Here I am.’
Abraham did not know what God wanted. He was just available. Little did he know a test was coming.
That’s all of us as leaders. We said yes to God at some point and we might have thought we knew where our life was going, but as the years moved along, things changed. Are you still saying, “Here I am God!” or are you maybe saying, “God? Where are you?”.
Hineni #2
God tells Abraham to take his son Isaac and sacrifice him as an offering to God. Woah. What would you do with those instructions? Abraham obeys and sets out on a three-day trek, walking silently with his son Isaac towards the mountaintop. At one point in the climb, Isaac, calls out, “Father?” and Abraham responds again with these famous words: ‘Hineni b’ni’ – “I am here, my son”. This time Abraham’s response is not out of awe for God, and perhaps not even out of readiness to respond. This Hineni comes from a place of love. In other words, Abraham may have been thinking in his mind, “I know it’s dangerous, and if God does not give me new instructions, this is not going to go so well. Yet, Abraham tells his son, “I am here for you”.
We all want to love the people we work with like that. We want to say, “I know it’s rough right now, but I am here”.
Hineni #3
Abraham has ascended the mountain, just as God instructed, and he bound his son, Isaac, the one he loves, on the altar piled high with wood. This is in a very different place. A place of, “This is real, this is pretty much crazy, God I hope you have a plan B!”. Abraham has raised a knife to slaughter his son, when in the nick of time, an angel’s voice calls to him twice by name, “Abraham! Abraham!”. I imagine Abraham’s whole body might have shook as he began to cry and wonder if maybe he did not have to sacrifice his only son.
He responds, “Hineni – Here I am”. Abraham is saying “Here I am” from a deep place of suffering. He is being obedient and dedicated to his task, but what he sees before him is anguish and confusion. The angel responds back, “Lay down the knife; don’t hurt the lad in any way, for I know that God is first in your life—you have not withheld even your beloved son from me” (Genesis 22:12 TLB).
Whew! I imagine the father-son embrace lasted a very long time.
I imagine as a leader or as a follower in 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic called Coronavirus, you are experiencing some kind of hardship. Maybe you’re even shaking. Are you being obedient to what God is calling you to do?
The Hebrew prophet Isaiah is very clear. We too are called by God, just like Abraham.
Isaiah writes in his book, chapter 43, verse 1, “I have called YOU by name”. Take a minute and go back and read that out loud with your name in it. Think about it for a moment. When God calls, as leaders we must say, “It’s me Lord, here I am”. The amazing news is that God calls back to us when we are available to him. Our creator, the same power that created the earth, says to us, “I am here for you”! This means we don’t have to lead alone in tough times. Isaiah 58:9 tells us, “Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am’.
This is a time for courageous leadership, for peace-bringing presence, for hope-filled words, and biblically-leaning wisdom. It’s a time for courage-filled truth-telling, and sometimes it’s a time for no talking, just weeping together with those who have lost their business, lost loved ones, or lost jobs.
Are you in? Are you willing to say, “Here I am!”? If you are, drop me a short or long email at gleith@convenenow.com
While you’re at it, grab a 3x5 card and on one side write, “Here I am” and on the other side, write
“DO NOT FEAR”. Stick it up somewhere where you can see it every morning and evening.
By the way, the Bible says “do not fear” 80 times! I’m pretty sure God knew we would need his reassurance! Sometimes, fear is a strategy of Satan, but thanks to God, your power is much greater than Satan’s. Look at how he reassures us as descendants of Abraham.
“But you, Israel, are my servant. You’re Jacob, my first choice, descendants of my good friend Abraham. I pulled you in from all over the world, called you in from every dark corner of the earth, telling you, ‘You’re my servant, serving on my side. I’ve picked you. I haven’t dropped you.’ Don’t panic. I’m with you. There’s no need to fear for I’m your God. I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you. I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you” (Isaiah 41:10 The Message).
God is asking you the same question he asked Adam; “Where are you?”. There is only one God-honoring answer – “Hineni – Here I am!”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
GREG LEITH
Greg Leith is the CEO of Convene. He was born in Canada and lived in all four corners of North America. His career spans over 35 years of senior leadership roles in corporate, non-profit and academic sectors. Recently, he served as Director of Strategic Alliances for 13 years at Biola University in California.