Genesis 15:5-7
The LORD then brought him outside and said, "Now look toward the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them." He said to Abram, "This is what your descendants will be like." Abram believed in the LORD, and the LORD credited it to him as righteousness. He said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as a possession."
Abram believed God. God gave him an unbelievable promise. Abram was about 85 years old when God made this promise to him. His wife, Sarai, was about 75 years old. So when God told Abram that his descendants were going to be as numerous as the stars it wasn't easy to believe, but "Abram believed in the LORD".
Faith is a crucial trait for a leader. A leader is always out front, going places he's never been before; doing things he's never done before, things he doesn't even know how to do. Sometimes, as in Abram's case, God gives us a vision that we can't even understand- it just doesn't make sense based on our current reality. Without faith, the journey never begins.
The reality is that doubt will creep in from time to time. In this account of Abram, in the very next chapter he allowed the doubts of his wife to influence him. Sarai doubted God's promise. She knew that she was way too old to ever have a child. She didn't just let her doubt affect her though, she worked hard to spread it to Abram. Not only did she doubt God's promise, but to make it tougher for Abram she came up with what she felt was a better solution: She offered up here beautiful young servant girl for Abram to have a child with to fulfill this promise. Unfortunately, Abram gave into this temptation. He took the servant girl to be his wife and she became pregnant.
This is the reality for leaders living in a sinful world: There will always be an opportunity to doubt God's plan and promise, and do things our own way. A way that is not in line with God's plan.
Another lesson here form Abram is that temptations to sin will come at us from every direction.
Abram believed God, but just like Adam he listened to his wife instead of trusting God. Nothing good happens when we follow any ideas that contradict God's Word, but a wife's influence with her husband is significant. This is why it is so important for a leader to be on the same page with his wife. Many a would-be leader has had his journey cut short because his wife would not support him in his endeavor. When this happens most give up.
Usually the few who do persist end up sacrificing their marriage.
Occasionally, a couple actually gets it together together:
The wife submits to her husband's leadership and chooses to become a Godly wife.
The husband commits to the vision and pursues it in a way that convinces everyone that this isn't just another passing fancy.
The bottom line is that no matter where you're leading, you have to lead at home first. If you can't lead your family, you won't be able to lead others for very long either.
This is something that even Christian leaders often miss: If you are married, your first call is to be a husband. Your second call is to be a father. Everything else comes after your primary and secondary calls are taken care of.
Abram/Abraham is the ultimate man of faith. In the book of Hebrews he is held up as the greatest hero of faith. Like all the leaders in the Bible, there are many great lessons to learn from studying the life of Abraham. He was a real man. He had many successes. He had some failures...some big failures, but God forgave those failures and fulfilled his covenant with Abraham- that the whole world would be blessed through him. Jesus came from Abraham's line. That is how the whole world has been blessed through him.
Just like Abraham, God has forgiven us all of our failures. No matter how hard we try, we still sin every day. Thankfully, God forgives us all of our sins for Jesus' sake, and still uses us, imperfect sinners, to do His will and carry out His plans.
God bless
Jason Fredrick
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