Break Policy When Necessary

Zelophehad . . . had no sons . . . only daughters. . . . These women came to . . . the Israelite leaders and said, “The Lord commanded Moses to give us a grant of land along with the men of our tribe.” Joshua 17:3-4

One of Joshua’s first tasks in the Promised Land was to portion out property. To prevent confusion, land was given to the males in each family.

This males-only policy worked until they came to a family in which the patriarch had no sons. His daughters had apparently not married into other families, so strict adherence to the policy would leave them with nothing.

Policies exist to standardize procedures; they are not core values, but guidelines along the way.

A chief duty of a leader is to decide when policies should be broken. Joshua gave the women their rightful inheritance. The goal was to fairly portion out the property, so policy was broken for the good of the mission.

Is a policy standing in your way?