Our eyes are on you
Jehoshaphat before the army
Facing an overwhelming invading army with no military answer, King Jehoshaphat gathered Judah and prayed a prayer of stunning honesty: we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. He did not pretend to have a strategy. He admitted total helplessness and fixed his gaze on God.
This is dependence at its most naked, and its most powerful. Jehoshaphat models what to do when you genuinely do not know what to do: confess it, and turn your eyes to God. Leaders feel they must always have the answer, must never admit they are at a loss. But there are situations beyond any leader's wisdom, and the honest, faith-filled response is Jehoshaphat's — we do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. That confession is not weakness; it is the doorway to God's intervention, which came mightily for Judah.
“I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD.”
— The psalmist, lifting his eyes — Psalm 121:1-2 (WEB)
When you genuinely do not know what to do, the faith-filled response is to confess it and fix your eyes on God. That admission is a doorway to his intervention, not a weakness.
“We have no might against this great company that comes against us; neither know we what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
Jehoshaphat admitted total helplessness and turned to God. A leader formed here can say I do not know what to do, with his eyes on God. The inner work is trading the pretense of always having answers for honest dependence.
In situations beyond your wisdom, admit it and turn the team’s eyes to God. Pray honest, helpless prayers rather than scrambling to appear in control. Treat your limits as an invitation to depend, not a failure to hide.
Leaders feel they must always have the answer and never admit being at a loss. The blind spot is that the pretense of control blocks the dependence God responds to.
In one situation beyond your wisdom, this week pray honestly, we do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you — rather than faking answers.
Leaders feel they must always have the answer, never admit being at a loss. But Jehoshaphat prayed, we do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you — and that confession was the doorway to God's intervention.
When you genuinely don't know what to do, can you admit it and fix your eyes on God?