We all have down days. Sometimes those days can drag out into weeks. Times of financial hardship especially can bring this out in us men. They are reality.

But they are also necessary. All good and godly men have experienced those times when God is clearly saying “You’re not at the top of the food chain. I am.” And there’s a reason for that.

Those times are as important to our growth as leaders as the good times. We need to appreciate them, not fight them. Learn from them, but don’t let them define us. Impress into our memory what it feels like to be down so we can relate to others and pick them up when the opportunity arises.

Feeling like a failure…which is a common feeling for men…is a message from Satan, but learning that we are not on the throne is a message from The Divine. It’s all in how you look at it, and that’s the point.

It is not overstepping our bounds to question God and wonder what He’s doing. David did it many times in the Psalms:

“O LORD, the God who saves me, day and night I cry out before you. May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry. For my soul is full of trouble and my life draws near the grave. … I am like a man without strength. … You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths. … You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape; my eyes are dim with grief. I call to you, O LORD, every day; I spread out my hands to you.” ~Psalm 88:1-9 (NIV)

“How long, LORD? Will You hide yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like a fire? … LORD, where are Your former lovingkindnesses, which you swore to David in your truth?” ~Psalm 89:46-49 (NKJV)

God doesn’t mind the questions, as long as we’re looking to Him for the answers. As leaders, we need to understand that the times of darkness that plague our human existence are just there to grow us into the men God wants us to be. God knows that what doesn’t kill us, if we’re seeking His face, just makes us stronger.

Just as it is impossible to feel on the top of the world without ever experience life’s valleys, it’s also impossible to know the resolve of a true leader without that resolve ever being tested. Untested resolve is just bravado.

Spread the word:

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Post tags: bravado, influence, resolve

Jesus knew that moral authority was a more effective tool of leadership than authority granted from on high. Moral authority is real influence, and can’t be bought, sold, or granted. It can only be earned.

God granted Jesus dominion over mankind, but Jesus earned the influence he had over his disciples over the course of thirty years on earth. He lived, loved, taught, and served. He earned the trust of his followers through a consistent example of sacrificial leadership that placed his followers needs over his own. All of the authority of God Almighty couldn’t accomplish what Jesus’ years of sacrificial ministry accomplished: loyalty and lasting personal influence.
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Read the rest of Authority is not the same as influence (135 words)

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Post tags: authority, influence, servant-leadership