Written by Barry-Werner on March 7th, 2011. Posted in Dependence on God, Jeremiah, Leadership Principles, Old Testament,Security, Trust. Christian leaders can guide their team through difficult times, communicating positive vision for the future, if they truly believe God is sovereign in every circumstance. Read Jeremiah 32:1-27. It is the 10th year of King Zedekiah’s reign in Judah. The Babylonians are for the third time attacking Jerusalem and this time they are angry and bent on total destruction of the city because of Judah’s violation of their last peace treaty. King Zedekiah had Jeremiah under house arrest because he refused to change his prophecy that Babylon would conquer and destroy the city of God and destroy the temple of God. In this hopeless situation God instructed Jeremiah to publicly purchase a field for a relatively high price and to pay in silver. He was to have the transaction witnessed, and to store the deed in a safe place. This object lesson was for the benefit of the king and other leaders in Jerusalem to let them know that after a time of desperation and punishment, God would restore them to the land and business would again return to normal i.e. buying and selling land. Even during a time of zero hope, God, through Jeremiah’s action, communicated His sovereignty and that there was a hope for the future. Sometimes a leader’s greatest challenge is to cast the vision for a better future and then be the voice of hope in difficult times. Like Jeremiah, unless there is a belief in a sovereign God who loves His people and has their best interests at heart the task could move from extremely difficult to impossible. It is during difficult times when everything seems in chaos, hopeless, and totally upside down from normal that the unchangeable nature and sovereignty of God is most obvious. Wise leaders find that any vision, any hope for the future, communicated during turbulent times must be tied to a force, a source of power that is able to change a situation that has gotten out of control and beyond human ability to reverse. Like Jeremiah, when casting vision during difficult times Christian leaders must trumpet the simple message, “Is anything too hard for God” (v. 27). When a team is grasping for hope, this is a message that will give hope and allow them to stay the course until some of the vision starts to unfold. Are you in the middle of difficult days? Is your team losing hope? Are you seeking a way to cast a positive vision for the future? Effective Christian leaders help their team focus on the sovereignty of God and God’s unchanging character that will give credibility to the hope to which their team is asked to cling. They help them to understand that nothing is too hard for God. Tags: Christian Leaders, Difficult Times, God's unchangeable nature, God's unchanging character, King Zedekiah's reign in Jerusalem, Source of power in turbulent times, Sovereign God, Trumpet simple messages,Violation of peace treaty with Babylon Trackback from your site.Do you focus your team on God’s sovereignty and unchanging character? (164-1)
