When I was a child, I used to play a game called Follow the Leader. If you’re not familiar with this game, it’s rather simple. Everyone simply does whatever the chosen leader does.
So, if the leader jumped in the mud, you jumped in the mud. If the leader did five jumping jacks, you did five jumping jacks. This was always such a fun game to me. And as a child, it was easy to understand, and simple to follow.
It wasn’t until I grew up that I began to question following the leader.
At some point beyond childhood, I found myself struggling against the simple concept, that I so easily understood and eagerly followed when I was young.
I realized I no longer wanted to follow anyone. I wanted to do things my way and on my terms. I wanted to be in control.
Why Can’t I Be in Control?
Can you relate to this type of thinking?
If you’re anything like me, that pull to do things your way, on your terms, can be so strong at times.
For instance, I know I should drink plenty of water each day, because it’s healthy and best for my body. And yet, my desire to be in control and have things my way, can easily pull me towards every drink in the refrigerator, except water.
After years and years of doing things my way; of being my own leader and refusing to follow after anyone. I finally learned why I don’t need to be in control.
Playing Follow the Leader is a super fun game to play as a child, with child minded steps to follow. But in the real world, bad leadership can lead you down bad paths…even when you yourself are the leader.
A true leader needs to be someone who is wise. Someone who always has your best interest in mind. Someone who can keep focus on the bigger picture, the greater good, and not what just feels good in the moment. Someone who you trust to lead you in ways that are right and good, even if by hard and difficult paths.
You would think I would have my own best interest in mind, but I was lacking a few things:
· I lacked wisdom
· I lacked discernment
· I lacked self-control and discipline
· I lacked patience
· I lacked righteousness
· I lacked knowledge
I lacked some of the essential characteristics that should be found in a leader.
Through 1 Samuel, we get a glimpse of what leadership looks like in a person whose character is not up to par, through Israel’s first king, Saul.
Saul was a man chosen by God to be the king of Israel. Unfortunately, like myself, Saul lacked a few things:
The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Mikmash, east of Beth Aven. When the Israelites saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns…Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear.
He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter. So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering. Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.
“What have you done?” asked Samuel. Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”
“You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command” (1 Samuel 13:5-14).
Saul and his troops were preparing for a major battle, and it appears his troops were beginning to lose heart. Instead of wisely encouraging them in the Lord and reminding them that God is with them, he decides to try and fix the problem himself. Here enters pride and foolishness.
The problem with pride and foolishness is, they always magnify you and your abilities, rather than God and His infinite abilities.
So, Saul decided that instead of waiting on Samuel, an agreement they apparently previously established, he would take matters into his own hands and offer up the burnt offering to the Lord; to seek God’s favor over the army, all on his own. Here also enters a lack of wisdom and lack of patience.
Without wisdom and patience, we are prone to make impulsive decisions that feels right in the moment, but rarely ever produces right results.
Saul’s lack of character and poor choices, led to him being stripped of the kingdom.
Unlike Saul, after years of trying to be in control of my own life and doing it my way, I finally learned why I couldn’t be in control. Because a true leader isn’t just a person who leads, but a person who submits.
Submit to His Leadership
There is a Leader above all leaders, and when we submit to His leadership, we learn how to be good leaders.
When Jesus had spoken these things, He raised His eyes to heaven [in prayer] and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, so that Your Son may glorify You. Just as You have given Him power and authority over all mankind, [now glorify Him] so that He may give eternal life to all whom You have given Him [to be His---permanently and forever]”
(John 17:1-2).
Following Jesus, the Leader above all leaders, is much like playing that simple game, Follow the Leader. You just do what He does. Through Him, we learn how to lead with wisdom and patience. We learn how to lead from a place of submission, rather than a place of control.
For years, I wanted to be in control of my own life, doing things my own way; but because I lacked the true heart and character of a leader, I just ended up making a mess of my life.
It wasn’t until I surrendered to Jesus’ leadership and begin to follow His ways, that my life began to change.
Today, I’m still a leader, but now I’m a follower too.
Let me ask you, where do you find yourself today?
Are you fighting to have your relationships your way, but not seeing the results you desire? Are you fighting to manage your money as you please, but still struggling financially? Are you trying to force circumstances in your life to line up just the way you desire, but if you’re honest, it’s exhausting and completely frustrating?
The good news is, the decision to surrender control of your life today, will not only improve your life, but will effectually help you become the leader, you have always wanted to be.
The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper
(1 Kings 19:11-12).
I love that the voice of the Lord isn’t loud and bombarding, but rather quiet and gentle.
Have you heard His voice lately?
Have you heard Him whispering in the deepest recesses of your heart? Have you heard him beckoning you to Himself?
The God of heaven and earth longs to have a relationship with you. He longs to reveal Himself to you and shower you with His love and grace.
Remember, He won’t be found in the great and mighty uproars of the world. But rather in the quiet, in the stillness, in the moments just between you and Him, you can hear His whisper.
If you desire to know the Lord, ask Him to whisper into your heart today. He will!
Peace and blessings, now and always!
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