Young leaders should not rush

I REFER to the letter “Days are numbered” (The National, Nov 22) by NT of Wewak.
I agree with the writer’s comments.
Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare’s days are numbered but I have no doubt he was chosen by God to lead this nation.
I am not from Sepik but I respect Sir Michael and I know that there are many non-Sepiks throughout the country who share the same sentiment.
That was contained in my previous letter “Respect the Grand Chief till he quits politics”.
We called ourselves a Christian country and our Constitution was based on the Christian principles.
Therefore, let’s go back to the Bible and look at the history of well-known leaders in it.
Through misery and hardship, Moses was chosen by God to lead the nation of Israel out of Egypt.
During his reign, many people including his family members (Numbers 12:1-15) stood against Moses but they were punished by God one way or another.
Joshua was Moses’ right hand man but he did not overthrow Moses.
He waited until God chose him to replace Moses.
Another history, before David became king, Saul was the king of Israel.
Although God chose David while he was just a boy, he did not try to overthrow King Saul.
King Saul and people around David egged him to kill Saul but David resisted.
He respected King Saul until he died in a battle (2 Samuel 1:1-27).
The other one is David’s son, Absalom tried to overthrow his father but he died (2 Samuel 18:9-18).
Solomon replaced David just before King David died.
With history in mind, I call on our young leaders to think twice or they will lead this nation into chaos.
I know they can lead Papua New Guinea as they have the power, skills, knowledge, etc, to run this country well.
But the time is not right yet.
They should not rush things and jeopardise their future just like Absalom.
Let the Grand Chief finish his term as our leader.
Moses, King Saul and King David were chosen by God to lead Israel.
They did not overthrow the lea­ders.
They were humble and respectful of their leaders until their time came to lead Israel and when they led, they led with power and dignity because God blessed their leadership.

Joseph Imbum
Lae