Leading Daily
Each day there are many decisions you must make that create success for your business and family. No matter if you are leading one or 100 you display confidence, you inspire, and you focus on the task at hand. God will give you what you need to succeed just as He did for Deborah.
Deborah is a wife and she may have been a mother too. Her job is that of a political leader as well as a spiritual leader. Her office is under a date palm tree that sits in the hill country of Ephraim. The entire Nation comes to her for counsel (Judges 4:5).
Leading like Deborah
She must have had enough prestige and money to have others running her household. Do you think her husband, Lappidoth, was the first stay-at-home Dad? Since she was well respected and had a lot of responsibility outside the home we can assume someone else oversaw her household.
Taking your business to the professional level requires that you give up other ‘jobs’ you think belong to you: cleaning, grocery shopping, creating meals, laundry, social media marketing, accounting, etc. Unless one of these activities IS your business I think it is safe to say you can delegate them to someone else. Deborah knows what she is good at and that is what she does.
Deborah is a leader. God has called her to this position and she takes it seriously. Imagine sitting in the shade of the palm tree giving advice and dispensing justice to the Nation and then receiving a message from God.
Deborah’s message from God is about Israel’s victory over their 20-year oppressors. She tells Barak, the commander, ‘Get ready! This is the day the LORD will give you victory over Sisera, for the LORD is marching ahead of you.’ (Judg 4:14) She always puts herself behind God. She is willing to allow God to take the first place.
Leading with God
She knew she needed God in order to do the job He had given her because Barak refused to go into battle without her! She doesn’t back down from the new role as military leader, she embraces what God says she is to do and moves ahead bravely.
Many times we may feel we are not qualified to do the task in front of us. God is always stretching us to make us more like Him. It can be scary; I am sure Deborah was scared. Adrenaline coursed through her body that day as she led the fight. We also can use that adrenaline to move through the scary times. It can give you courage to take that step, right now.
Barak goes into battle that day under the specific instructions of Deborah. He does ‘win’ the battle; exactly as the Lord promised Deborah. However, because of his refusal to fight without her, she told him the specific victory over Sisera, the leader, would be at the hands of a woman.
Deborah was not that woman. . . though she might have expected it. A Bedouin woman named Jael had the honor. However, Jael stands in contrast to Deborah. Jael used what she knew best to complete the task, a tent peg. Deborah needed to depend on God for her leadership position that day because it was not in her experience.
Leading with Heart
Leadership takes risk, leadership takes courage, both women showed that. True leadership also takes trust. Only Deborah trusted that what God had said would come to pass. Trust God to give you the strength and courage to take risks in your business. Let go of things that are holding you back and lead by trusting Him.
You also must look beyond what you are capable of doing and see what God is calling you to do. Leading others takes dependence on God. Use leadership to set your business apart from others in your industry. Be the leader others want to aspire to be.
What qualities come to mind when you think about Leadership? Character, courage, focus, passion, generosity, responsibility, vision? In the comments tell me one way you show Leadership every day.
Be filled to overflowing,
Deneen
P.S. The Clarity Retreat sign up is happening NOW. Get motivated to LEAD 2018 with way God wants you to and live in your Calling.
I love the Women of the Bible! Leadership isn’t about ourselves and the “look at me roar” syndrome. It is leading for our hearts but placing God first! We cannot do it without God, take it from me, I have tried for years, no more.
Awesome insight!
Deneen, two of your headers say it all: “Lead with God” and “Lead with heart”. And this, “You also must look beyond what you are capable of doing and see what God is calling you to do,” speaks to me so powerfully right now. I know what I can do, and what I’m good at, but I’m now leaning on God and asking Him what it is He wants for me. Thank you for the reminder.
I am glad it is resonating with you Valerie. Love that you are in a space where you know your strengths and are using them.
I am so with the “Lead with God” and “Lead with heart” mention there.
When we lead from these places so much more is covered in one day rather than leading from a place of self-gratification, all that leads is too miserable existence. Wise principles to apply to our life 🙂
Leading with your heart is a wonderful thing. Our hearts often know things that they may not yet have communicated to our brains.
I tend to show leadership by using my strength of responsibility. I get up on early (and don’t feel like it most days), and do so many tasks that need to be done but are not glorious, thereby setting an example for my children every day of showing excellence in all we do.