Can you imagine what calibre of leaders we would have if each one were a survivor? 1. A Leader survives every crisis. You’ve got to hold on in the midst of your crisis. I know we all want peace and perfect harmony. That is the way it should be, but life has its twists and turns. You have to survive. You need self-confidence and self- determination. You can do it! If you believe, you can conquer it all! A leader needs friends and family in times of crisis. I have found that God is your best friend in such times. Jesus was a survivor. He met with stiff rejection and hatred. People wanted him killed from day one, but he survived. When Jesus announced that he was anointed and had a healing ministry, many people rejected him outright. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way- Luke 4:17-19,28-30 Jesus survived! I see you surviving! Your children will survive! Your family will survive! Jesus survived and so will you! A leader cannot please everyone; he has to do what God has told him to do! 2. A leader must survive per¬secution. I have been strongly perse¬cuted for my beliefs. I have been persecuted for starting a church. I have been ridiculed for starting a ministerial asso¬ciation. In 1988 and 1989, two different people called me “Jim Jones”! One of them was my classmate, a fellow medical student. The other person who called me “Jim Jones” was a professor and a family friend. By the grace of God I have survived these persecutions. Who was Jim Jones? He was a cult leader who led thousands of people to their deaths. I was portrayed as a cult leader and a lunatic. Those were dif-ficult moments, but I came through. I have survived these hateful persecutions and I am still around by the grace of God. Don’t be discouraged because of your persecutions. A leader is supposed to be a survivor. 3. A leader survives rejection. I have survived rejection as a minister of the gospel. When I was getting married, there was no external minister who would officiate my wedding. My associate pastor had to officiate my wedding. I invited all the pastors in the city but no one turned up. These ministers were not interested in my wedding. When it was time to take pictures with all pastors, no pastor was present. The MC called for all pastors but no one came forward. I was completely rejected. But I have survived and many of the people who rejected me then, show respect to me today. Do not allow rejection to kill your vision for lead¬ership. Leadership includes surviving everything that is thrown at you. 4. A leader must survive bad stories. A leader is someone who survives bad stories. When Jesus rose from the dead some people spread a rumour about his disciples. They claimed that the disciples were grave looters who had stolen the body of Jesus. In other words, their claim was that he did not really rise from the dead. But the gospel has survived this story. And when they were as¬sembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the sol¬diers, Saying, Say ye, His dis¬ciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. And if this come to the governor’s ears, we will per¬suade him, and secure you. So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly re¬ported among the Jews until this day- Matthew 28:12-15 Before Peter could begin his ministry, many people saw him as a liar and a thief. Others saw him as the greatest deceiver to live in Jerusalem for centuries. Yet, he was a genuine minister of the gospel, proclaiming only what he had seen and heard. This is the lot of all true leaders or ministers of the gospel. You will have to sur¬vive the unbelievable stories that go on around you. I have heard people say amazing things about me. How do we explain all these stories? Government officials sometimes describe church leaders as charlatans who rip and rape the people. This is the impression that many people have of us. What can we do about it? We can only survive! To survive means to outlive and outlast every storm. A leader is a survivor. To survive, you need determina¬tion and a whole lot of faith. You need to believe in yourself and you need to be¬lieve that what you are doing is the right thing. You need lo be¬lieve that God will help you. 5. A leader survives envy, jealousy, disloyalty and betrayal. As you go higher in life, you will attract lots of envy and jealousy. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. Genesis 37:3,4. Joseph obtained favour and was given a coat of many colours. Soon he attracted the hatred of his own brothers leader must survive the envy and jealousies of his brothers Joseph survived the test of slavery. He survived going prison. He survived the lies and bad stories of Potiphz wife. A leader is a survivor! Joseph’s ability to lead Egypt in a time of crisis was partly because of his ability to survive the envy and jealous} everyone around him. Jesus’ ministry survived the betrayal by Judas. Betrayal is part of life. No matter who you are or what type of leadership you have, you will experience betrayal if the story of Judas is anything to go by, then one out twelve people may be loyal. Keep disloyalty to a minimum and survive the rebellion that comes against your leadership. Do not cry at it. Do not moan about it. That is leadership. Jesus was betrayed. And Paul was betrayed. How can it be that will not experience the same? You can have very close friends who will turn around against you. People you have slept with and played with can turn against you in bitter hatred. Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trust which did cat of my br hath lifted up his against me- Psalm 41:9 A leader is a survivor! A leader is not someone who has had things rosy. Be determined, dear friend, to survivor. You can through whatever storm are experiencing! 6. A leader survives pressure. Real leaders often come under extreme and varied pressures because they out there in the front, are the ones who receive the blows. The pressure ways on them. If you cannot stand pressure then you not be a leader. Develop a hard forehead. Do not go mad. Do not go crazy. Some people breakdown under pressure. God told Ezekiel not to be afraid of the people’s faces. Be harder than everything comes against you. We do not have a choice but to pray for our leaders to have the ability to survive.
Posted on: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 15:38:09 +0000
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