Leadership from the Ground Up
Today is the National Day of Prayer. We had a well attended prayer breakfast this morning and it was an honor to chair, this year’s event in Northern Colorado. Dick Foth was our keynote speaker and that always makes for an impact on those present. After a couple of other commitments, I took in a local high school baseball game.
BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY….. “For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike.” And he made it a statute and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day.” 1 Samuel 30:24,25 ESV
You can count on it. The experiences of life make a difference on how we view others and on our leadership and priorities. We can observe this in the life of David. David’s ascension to the throne was not by birthright. He didn’t spend time in the confines and comfort of a palace waiting for “his day” to come when he would be King.
David was able to be “up close and personal” with King Saul. Yet it was his time in the wilderness, his life as a fugitive among the Philistines and all the experiences of those years that shaped who he would be as a King.
The verses above are one example. David and his men were in pursuit of the Amalekites who had raided Ziklag and had taken hostage wives and children. Some of the men were too exhausted to fight and remained with the supplies. After the victory those who had found and won the battle and brought home the spoils wanted to even punish those who stayed behind. But David stepped in an made the decision that those who stayed behind with the baggage and guarded the supplies, would share in the spoils of war won by the fighting men. This equitable treatment for all who served in the army regardless of position became a statute David implemented when he became King.
We read in other scriptures that when the Lord gave instructions on how to treat foreigners and aliens, He reminded the Israelite’s, remember you were slaves and foreigners in Egypt. What we experience in life, make us more sympathetic to those who find themselves in the same situation.
You can observe this not only in “government” but in business as well. The president of the company who worked his or her way from the “bottom up” will be a different kind of leader and have a different relationship with employees than one who is just hired as the “outside” expert or guru or the one who inherited a position by virtue of being a part of the family of the founder of the business.
As we move through life and experience challenges, obstacles and “character building” tests, we need to not just move on from those but to allow those to shape the type of person we are and the type of leader we become.
Prayer for today…. Lord, thank you that we can not only be victorious in the “strife of life” but we can allow what we experience to build our character and our influence on others and person and leader we become.