What Leaders Can Learn From Abram

I was reading during my quiet time and part of my reading required me to read Genesis 12 & 13. As I started reading, this was dropped in my spirit. I’ll give you the first 4 verses of Chapter 12 and then share what was dropped in my spirit:

Genesis 12:1-4 says this:

Now the Lord had said to Abram:

“Get out of your country,

From your family

And from your father’s house,

To a land that I will show you.

I will make you a great nation;

I will bless you

And make your name great;

And you shall be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,

And I will curse him who curses you;

And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

Now many times we talk about prosperity, and all that when we read those verses. Let's look at this from a leadership perspective. Abram was called out of his comfort zone (or we could say comfortable place), leaders when they want to be effective, will step out of their comfortable place. Abram had faith in God to obey; leaders step out into the world of the unknown. But a leader that's grounded in Christ can leave a legacy like Abram.

Let’s look deeper into those verses: God said to Abram that He will make him a great nation, bless him and make his name great. Sometimes when God wants to bless you, He has to get you away from your comfortable place like He did with Abram.  Abram had nothing to lose but everything to gain when He stepped out and left his country. Leaders when they’re going for something big, they have nothing to lose going in. I’m sure Abram counted the cost before leaving. They say that leaders aren’t born, and every leader that has left a legacy counted the cost. So I ask every child of God, do you want to be used to the fullest? Count the cost and be open to His Spirit and what He’s trying to say to you. Don’t be alarmed if He pulls you from your surroundings. He has so much for you. I’m willing to believe that every leader can testify to that.

Let’s look down in Chapter 13 (I promise you that I won’t be long). Let’s start at verse 10 when Lot and Abram split up. I want you all to see this.

Verses 10-13:

And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord.

I want to stop here for a minute. As you are walking with the Lord, don’t think that everything that looks good is what is supposed to be in your life. Pray, get alone with God, fast, before making a hasty decision. Leaders carefully count the cost and discern before making decisions that could have an impact that’s either good or bad. Lot lifted his eyes and saw that the land was well watered. And he went for it. Now Abram gave Lot the first choice. That is what you call serving – giving other people a voice. That’s what good leaders do. But I also want to bring out here is the power of choice. We live and die based on choices we make.

Now watch what God does after Lot leaves Abram (starting at verse 14):

And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”

A godly leader always gets alone to let God speak to Him because he knows that God is a leader’s provision. It doesn’t get better than that. In fact, faithfulness to God always brings promotion. Think about it, Abram left his country, and always trusted God as his provider and God elevated Abram – which you’ll find as you read on in Genesis.

But what I wanted to show was that in order to discover that God is not a man that He should lie, that He watches over His Word to perform it; He will fulfill every promise to us, we have to take that step of faith to Him and allow Him to direct our paths and be obedient to Him no matter the cost. That’s how you can be a leader after God’s heart and get this: in the Bible, when Abraham, Isaac & Jacob passed away, you’ll find that people always made reference to the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac or the God of Jacob. They’ll remember you and want to serve the God that you serve.

Blessings.

The Mayne Man