Have you subtly shifted from dependence on God to self-reliance? (111-5)

Some reading this leadership study began influencing people in their teen years and now have decades of leadership experience. God gifted us with experience and expects us to use that experience to become the best leader we can be and thereby bring honor to His name. Generally with experience comes stronger, more well rounded leadership and fewer mistakes, but there is a danger for the Christian leader that comes with experience—when we become leadership professionals, we tend to rely on our own knowledge, wisdom and experience rather than continuing to look for a fresh touch from God in our daily leadership life. Read 2 Chronicles 14-16.

Early in the leadership life of King Asa of Judah, Asa used his God-given abilities and position to influence the people of Judah to follow the Lord and trust Him. He served his subjects by fortifying their towns and protecting them with a strong military force. God honored his prayers of dependence by giving him victory when his army was outnumbered and, from every human standpoint, should have been defeated by a vast Cushite army. Asa led reformations for God in the Southern kingdom of Judah in such a way that his influence spread beyond his own borders and many individuals living in the northern kingdom, under totally different leadership, were impacted and entered into a renewed covenant with the one true God.

Asa’s national reforms at the beginning of his leadership were based on his understanding of the timeless principle found in 2 Chronicles 15:2 “…The Lord is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.” Sadly, Asa slipped from his dependence on God as he became a leadership expert. He relied on his own wisdom and alliances with other powerful leaders allowing his pride and spiritual rebellion to turn him into a tyrant at the end of his life. Asa became so hardened and dependent on human wisdom that when he became ill at the end of his life “though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the Lord but only from physicians.” Asa died a hollow leader who failed to finish his leadership life well.

Have you seen a subtle shift in your leadership that has moved you from dependence on the wisdom and power of God to dependence on your own experience and wisdom? Is there an element of pride that has gradually slipped into your daily decisions? Can you identify elements of your character that are less godly than several years (or decades) ago? If you answered yes or maybe to any of these questions you might be in danger of becoming like Asa and finishing poorly. Corrective action isn’t a matter of three or five steps but a matter of attitude and desire to return to your first love. God-fearing leaders do what it takes to return to a position of humility before God.

Revelation 2:3-5 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.