Leadership

Five years ago, I listened to a sermon by Steven Furtick* in which he asked the question:

"How has God used one of your weaknesses to do a big thing through your life?"


Rejection or the feeling of being rejected/abandoned is at the core of my weaknesses. However, it has been the very thing that found me reaching out to men, encouraging them to be the leaders they were created to be.


I'm not really sure how to best state this but it's wrapped up in the fact that I grew up without a father and not having a bond with my mother who was absent for the most part of my life. I lacked the necessary training, skills, the sense of security, stability, love and attention that would contribute to the level of confidence needed to boldly step into adulthood and my purpose on this earth. I then went into my adult years unprepared to deal with the challenges that came with adulthood (including other leaders who have been ineffective in their leadership in other areas of my life, particularly in the body of Christ).

It stirred up the gifts in me to help parents recognise the call on their lives. Helping them understand that they are the first and most important leaders in their children's lives. Helping them to understand that they are the ones God has given the responsibility to parent/teach/train up the children in their care.

Helping those who lead in the church understand that their household does not take second place to the activities that they are involved in, in the church. God instituted the family before there was a need to build His church. 1 Timothy 5:8 warns us of this. It is wrong to neglect our children or spouses in the name of 'doing God's work'. Our training comes from within the home--that is our first ministry. If our parents were ineffective in their parenting/leadership it is an opportunity for us to allow the Holy Spirit to help us turn that negative around so we can be the change and break that negative cycle.

It stirred the gifts in me to help those who are broken in the church to deal with the root of their pain and receive healing so that we are able and capable to minister to the broken in society when they walk through the church doors. If we who are the body of Christ aren't willing to deal with what holds us bound we then become part of the problem and cause those who are seeking The Great Physician to turn their backs on His Word and call us names like 'Hypocrites' and 'Judgemental' when they refer to us who profess the faith.

Therefore, as I grow in the knowledge of Christ, I begin to overcome the consequences of ineffective leadership in my life and become a more spiritually, emotionally healthy person which is being transferred to other areas of my life.

God has turned around for good, what was meant to destroy me. Romans 8:28 helps me to understand that. Though I still struggle with the feelings of rejection from time to time I am also using those experiences as stepping stones/ building blocks...using them as opportunities to grow and to serve others.

God is now getting the glory, for I no longer crave the love of my earthy parents, though it still makes me sad that I don't have it. Neither do I look for it in other human leaders. Instead, I claimed Psalm 27:10, believing that God would take me up and He did. Although I was once part of a fellowship where the leaders didn't quite understand what God was doing in my life, and added to my pain with the ineffectiveness of their leadership, I am now in a fellowship where I can see the evidence of God's love.

This comes not just through the saints (including leaders) in my current fellowship but of saints all around me including those of other fellowships within my community. I am now reaping the benefit of being obedient to the voice of God. It is also an answered prayer to the believers in the church where I grew up and was baptised in. They would have been praying for my eyes to be opened to the truth since my childhood and now, in this season of my life as I witness the power and love of God on my personal life, in our marriage and parenting, they can rejoice with me just as they shared in my sorrows.

Thank you for the opportunity to share. God promised never to leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5) and He has been faithful to me regarding that promise. I love Him with all my heart, mind and soul. May we all strive to live in obedience to His will. His grace is sufficient for us (2 Cor 12:9) and enables us to live in obedience to His will.

Here's to us growing in love!

Notes ______*Steven Furtick, Pastor of Elevation Church
Originally shared with my FB friends in a note in 2016