Like the meme implies, if you have ever been a flashlight holder, it is not a job for the faint of heart. Nothing in this life teaches you more than holding a flashlight while someone else does the job at hand. And those lessons are usually quite harsh.

Flashlight holders are not always holding a flashlight for their dad while he is fixing the car. If you have ever been an assistant anything, you have held a flashlight and you know it is not as easy as it sounds. Some of us spend a lifetime being in the position of helper. Not only do you have to support the doer, but you have to be in the right place at the right time. You have to listen and clench your mouth shut when you want to offer unnecessary advice. You have to know when to open your mouth and how to do it without offending the director of operations. You need to have done your homework and be knowledgeable enough to anticipate the next move of the doer and sometimes you need to offer supportive comments while dodging all the accusation and blame that may be thrown at you. And if you are like me, you have to calm your itchy fingers that want to take over.

Chances are, your job is in the business of support and not leadership. It takes a village to support but only one to actively lead. There is only one surgeon and multiple helpers in the operating room and even though there are many behind the scenes, being one of them is quite challenging. When the job is well done, you are never the one who accepts the accolades and at best, you may only have a word or two of thanks thrown your way.

So who are some famous flashlight holders in history? No one knows. Do you know the name of Thomas Edison’s helper? Do you know if he had one or a whole staff of helpers? What is the name of the influencers of Isaac Newton? How about the people behind the inventions of the assembly line or the airplane? There is no glory in being the support staff but we all know that nothing would get done without them.

Where should we look to learn how to be a top-notch helper? It is not a popular topic but if you look carefully, the Bible is full of flashlight holders. Queen Esther’s cousin Mordecai, King David’s friend Jonathan and Pontius Pilate’s wife(he didn’t listened to her) come to mind. However, my favorite biblical flashlight holder is Mary Magdalene. She shined her flashlight into that tomb and saw that it was empty. Without her and other unnamed women, Jesus would have had to ‘Gibbs slap’ the other disciples before they figured it out.

So next time you have to work in the shadows of a leader, remember that progress stops without knowledgeable, calm, and supportive flashlight holders.