Today’s readings are 2 Samuel 9-10, 1 Chronicles 18-19, Psalm 89, and Acts 26.
Both 2 Samuel 10 and 1 Chronicles 19 tell the story of David’s army defeating the Ammonites and the Syrians who joined forces. In both places we are told Joab, the leader of David’s army, came up with a strategy to split up, allowing his brother Abishai to lead a group with him leading the other still so that one group could help the other if they were in trouble. After gathering everyone and delivering the strategy, he told everyone the following in both passages which I will quote directly from 2 Samuel 10:12…
“Be strong, and let us use our strength for our people and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to Him.”
We can learn some great leadership lessons from Joab in both 2 Samuel 10 and 1 Chronicles 19 through this story.
- You may be a good leader and great at what you do, maybe the best…but we must develop and trust in others, as well as delegate, to maximize our impact and what God will do through us to accomplish His will. We saw this through Joab allowing the army to split up and letting his brother Abishai lead the other group.
- To lead others, we must have a strong “why” or purpose and communicate it to others with the potential to inspire them to potentially use it as theirs, too. Joab communicated the battle they were fighting was for their people and for the cities of God.
- Have confidence. One of my past business coaches, Jason Selk, always said, “Confidence is the number one variable in success.” I can almost hear the confidence and conviction in Joab’s voice as he tells them to “Be strong..” Do you lack confidence? I do sometimes. A recent Tim Tebow book I read discussed having “God confidence.” As a believer in Jesus, your confidence is not in yourself, but what God can do through you. Check out Ephesians 3:20-21. It’s not what I can do, but what God can do through me. And that is more than I can ask or even imagine. I guess you could say these have become my life verse(s) in some way.
- Joab gives it to God and ask that His will be done. I’ve also heard it said, “All we can do is to do our best, and let God take care of the rest.” As a Christ follower, it’s ok to ask for what we want..the Bible tells us that (Matthew 7:7-12). However, at the end of the day what should be most important to us is that His purpose is accomplished and that He is glorified which sometimes may come through our defeats and not through what we want occuring. We trust in God and that He will work good for whatever happens (Romans 8:28).
I pray we can apply these lessons from Joab in our lives which will allow God to be glorified through us and through all that we do.