Effective leaders are able to read the signs of the times, interpret them, and prepare their team and others for what is ahead. Read Joel 1:1-14.

God gave Joel the wisdom to see a spiritual application from the natural disaster of locusts that was destroying the nation. Joel’s divine intuition enabled him to stay ahead of the times and use the events of the moment to draw timeless conclusions.

Effective leaders know how to make a decision they can live with. Read Daniel 6:1-10.

While Daniel was serving as an administrator in the government of King Darius, some of his contemporaries developed a plan that would have Daniel violate a direct order from the king and get him removed from office. Knowing Daniel faithfully faced in the direction of Jerusalem and prayed to the One True God three times a day, leaders who wanted Daniel’s position and power got the king to make a law that made it illegal to worship anyone but him for a month. Daniel was faced with a decision, continue a life of honoring God or yield the practice for 30 days to save his life. Daniel decided to live by his life principles no matter the consequences.

When leaders obey God with an unflinching resolve, God’s resources become available to them. Read Daniel 3:1-30.

After Daniel, a Jewish exile in Babylon, had interpreted a dream for King Nebuchadnezzar he was appointed to a high position in Nebuchadnezzar’s government. At his request three of his friends were also elevated to administrators over the province of Babylon. These appointments of foreign nationals angered the Babylonian leaders who had served the king for a long time eyeing those positions.

The best leaders assess every situation and respond appropriately. Read Ezekiel 18:1-32.

The Jewish people used a proverb that said the next generation would suffer the consequences for the actions of the current generation. Ezekiel was directed to tell the people that this proverb will no longer be used by the people. The goal was to let the people living in exile in Babylon know that if they lived a God-honoring life they would flourish as a people even though their relatives living in Judah were still in rebellion against God. Ezekiel was to make it clear that God looked at each specific situation and it was their own actions that would determine their blessing or curse not the actions of the generation before. Chapter 18 makes it clear that God discerns each individual situation and responds appropriately for each situation.

Even the best leaders are unable to turn some situations around. Read Ezekiel 14:12-23.

The Lord came to Ezekiel when he was speaking to the elders of Israel exiled in Babylon and gave him a message of condemnation for their ongoing practice of idolatry. God named three of His best from their Jewish history including Daniel, a very familiar one who was a well-known leader during the exile, and stated that even they would not have been able to save this rebellious people from themselves. Even though all three were full of integrity, character, and discipline, totally competent and responsible to do the right thing; God says even they could save only themselves because the people would not listen to them.