Do you focus on vision or do you focus on the problem? (123-3)

One of the basic things that separates a leader from those who desire to follow is their perspective and vision. Read Job 19:25-27.

Job had a profoundly different perspective and vision for life than did his friends and his wife. Job maintained an eternal perspective. He believed his redeemer lived and after his death he would still see his creator. (This may be one of the earliest Biblical references to the resurrection.) Job, after having lost everything from an earthly perspective and with a painful skin disease threatening to take his own life, cast a vision for a reality after the grave. Even after his friends told him if he had lived better he would not be in this condition and his wife told him to curse God and die, Job did not abandon his eternal perspective.

So what are some of the transferable principles that Job lived by that you and I can learn from to become leaders with a more godly perspective:

• Job continually reviewed and renewed his perspective concerning who he was and who God is. He chose to cling to the justice and character of God rather than focus on his current situation. Godly leaders keep their focus on God not themselves.
• Job was able to release his past. He trusted God enough to be willing to let go of what he had lost. Wise leaders continually seek to gain understanding of God’s role and their role.
• Job kept his focus on his purpose. Job’s core belief was that he existed to glorify God. Christian leaders seek to have their perspective on the God/man relationship accurate.

Are you able to continue to have vision when the chips are down or do you focus on the problem? How a leader handles problems and difficult situations generally determines how much influence they can be trusted with by both their earthly employers and in their assignments from God. The three areas mentioned above are the great limiters of a leader’s potential. Wise leaders who desire to change how they respond when crisis hits will consider Job’s reaction to his desperate situation and seek God’s wisdom on a starting point for change.