What is your first reaction to a crisis? (122-1)

Spiritually mature leaders are called to trust God even when they do not understand what He is doing. Read Job 1:1-22.

Job was a wealthy landowner that lived in Northern Arabia somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,000 years before Jesus was born. Based on the scriptural description of Job we would be hard pressed to find a better leadership model. Job was industrious, devoted to God and family, successful, and had a good reputation among his peers. But suddenly without warning signs of any kind disaster struck his business and personal life. Job was a leader wholly dedicated to God and living a righteous life, yet God allowed Satan to viciously tear apart every aspect of Job’s life. How many of us can relate!

Leaders will face life issues and extreme adversity that may appear to be totally unfair. Even after self-examination you may not be able to find a reasonable explanation. God may allow difficulty in a leader’s life for several reasons:

• To test us
• To discipline us
• To humble us
• To change our perspective or
• To prepare us for blessings in the future

But even knowing these facts will not be enough to bring us through intense, extremely, difficult life situations without an unwavering trust in God’s sovereignty.

We can learn from Job’s initial response to these sweeping disasters that hit him broadside. According to verses 20-21, “…Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.’”

Job’s personal integrity became evident in this time of multiple trials; he maintained his uprightness in spite of great personal loss. Times of adversity have a way of revealing a leader’s true character. The desired outcome of all our time before the Lord and time of personal leadership development would be that our character and attitude toward God would be the same in times of abundance and in times when abundance is stripped away.

What is your first reaction to a crisis? Is it to trust or even sense the Lord is in control or to ask “why me” God? For most of us, after we get some time to think about the situation we humble ourselves before God but our first reaction often tells us our current level of spiritual maturity and gives us indication of areas to work on.