Of course it is! The book of 2 Chronicles is full of stories where leadership determined the course of events. As a leader it is important to know how to lead others and where you are going. Leading is not easy and every leader will experience bumps in the journey, but whether or not you are successful as a leader will be determined by the responses you make along the way.
It doesn’t really matter what you are leading: a company, a team, a fellowship, and yes even a family. If you pay attention to the following four principles, you will always come out a winner!
1. Seek to follow the Lord in your patterns of leadership.
If you read the stories of the different Kings in Chronicles you will begin to recognize a pattern. Kings who follow the Lord (God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob) they lived long and full lives. Kings who chose to follow the customs of the land, worship other Gods, their own desires lived short lives and were often killed or died of diseases.
Response Following God: King Solomon, son of King David, lived a long life. Throughout his lifetime he built the House of the Lord, his own elaborate palace and became very rich and wise. In fact, God prospered him so much that his riches and wisdom passed all the kings of the earth at that time. He grew to be so famous that even the queen of Sheba heard about him and came to Israel to see for herself if the rumors she heard were really true. Solomon reigned 40 years. (2 Chron. 9)
Response Not Following God: Jehoram, king Jehoshaphat’s son, (king Jehoshaphat was king of Judah who followed after God) did not follow in his father’s footsteps, but instead followed the ways of the current kings of Israel (their ungodly customs; their perverse culture). To secure his position as king he killed his brothers. As king he patterned his leadership after the ways of the kings of Israel, causing the people of Judah to follow the customs and culture of Israel’s kings. He even went as far as marrying the daughter of king Ahab (a very evil king) in order to build a partnership with Israel. God warned him of what would happen through a prophet, Elijah, but his response was, I will do it my way. So he died of an incurable disease which he suffered with for two years until his bowels fell out. Just as the prophet told him. He reigned only eight years. (2 Chron. 21)
2. Beware of Relationships.
Relationships have influence over your life. Those who have influence into your life can positively or negatively affect your decisions. How you respond to their influences will determine outcomes in the situations of your life, business, work, family, etc.
Response with a Positive Influence: King Joash was only seven years old when he became king. The priest Jehoiada was his advisor, a Godly priest. Joash and Jehoiada worked together to repair the House of the Lord. Jehoiada and Joash had a close relationship and served the Lord together all the days of Jehoiada, the priest’s life. (2 Chron. 24)
Response with a negative influence: When Jehoiada died, the princes of Judah came to king Joash and befriended him. Encouraging him to follow their custom of worshipping idols and other Gods. Joash listened to them. God sent the son of Jehoiada, the prophet Zechariah to warn Joash. His new friends were so angry they requested Zechariah be stoned. Because of his relationship with his new friends and the influence they had on Joash’s life, he killed Zechariah. The son of Jehoiada, the Godly priest that raised him since he was seven. (2 Chron. 24)
3. In times of rest prepare for your next assignment.
King David had it in his heart to build the House of God. God however, told him his son Solomon would be the one to build it. When David was old Solomon was still young. David recognized that the work load to build the House of God would be great for Solomon. So in his time of rest, he prepared all the gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, onyx and precious stones that would be needed to build the House of God for his son Solomon. Helping his son to be prepared to carry out the next phase of building the House of God. (1 Chron. 29)
4. When adversity comes, seek the help of the Lord first and not the advice of others.
Response: Sought after God in Adversity
Take Jehoshaphat for example. His kingdom (Judah) was facing a battle. A great multitude of his enemies were coming to war against his kingdom. What did he do? He set himself to the seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. The entire kingdom sought God for an answer. If you read the story you will see God did answer them, in fact, He answered them with very specific instructions. The leader and all the people were obedient and carried out God’s instructions. The result, their enemies were defeated by God himself, Judah did not even have to fight. They even gathered the spoil from the dead bodies of their enemies. In fact, the spoil was so great that they could not carry it all away. (2 Chronicles, Chapter 20)
Response: Did not seek after God in Adversity
Asa was a King who in the first part of his life followed after the ways of God. In fact, he lead his people in an oath to follow God. In doing so they lived in peace for many years. Then the king of Israel built Ramah, a city that didn’t allow Judah to come in and go out of their city essentially cutting off their food and supplies. Instead of asking God for help, he sent gold and silver to the King of Syria (Ben-hadad). He requested the king of Syria break his alliance with the King of Israel in order to get Israel’s king to stop building Ramah. That seemed to work, but God was angry at Asa for not seeking his will and told him so through a prophet. Asa was so angry at God that he never again sought the advice of God even when he became diseased in his feet. Instead he sought the advice of physicians. It’s a sad thing when our responses bring separations in our life. (2 Chron. 15 and 16)
So what am I really saying here?
I am saying, sometimes we as leaders feel strong and courageous, and sometimes we feel vulnerable or fearful. I am saying, don’t be led by feelings or influences, but be led by God. Make sure you are making decisions that pattern after the ways of the Lord, be aware of the relationships around you and how they may influence your decisions, prepare for what is coming next, and always turn to the Lord in times of adversity. As the leader you will set the direction and live the outcomes. So, the bottom line is …… LEADERSHIP DOES MATTER, BUT YOUR LEADERSHIP RESPONSES MATTER MORE!
