Day 1

1 Samuel 17

⁴ A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span.^[a] 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels^[b]; ⁶ on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. ⁷ His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels.^[c] His shield bearer went ahead of him.

In these series we look at how God prepared David to become the great king he was. His rule after this preparation is the subject of my other book …Leadership King David Style. So if you are really interested in the leadership lessons from David’s rule, you can pick a copy from the bookshops or the digital copy in amazon. It has very good lessons.

 King David is one of the best leaders that ever lived. Even Jesus is called the son of David. So David is an all-time icon and if we want to be leaders ourselves then it will be good to study the life of King David and see how we ourselves can lead in a similar way. How we can copy him?

Today we pick the story of David and Goliath, one of his many experiences, in order for us to draw lessons out of it. So basically that is what we are discussing in this series on leadership preparation. First of all remember this is a small boy. In fact he is not a military man yet. He is a a shepherd boy, but the father sends him with some food to check how the brothers are in the army. This small shepherd boy ends up visiting the army but he is still a very small boy.

We just want to look at the early life of David, and especially as we look at the possibility that we are also young and we are likely to also face goliaths in our life as we prepare for leadership.

Day 2

Acts 13:36

³⁶ “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed.

And your generation is as young as you are, or is as old as you are. What that means, is that you are not going to be a leader of tomorrow, you are leading your generation now and onwards. The small boy David , was already leading at his age he was despite the fact that he was a teenager. He had not reached the military age which in Israel was the age of 20.

And sometimes I look back to my life and remember as a small boy in 1958, I was born in 1952, so you can see by 1959 when I started school I wasn’t very big. Yet  I was made a prefect in my class. Yes in 1959 I was a prefect. I didn’t even know how to write down the people who came late, I had to memorize in my head.

 I look back from 1958 to date and see over 60 years later, the many opportunities God has given me in leadership, and see that the same challenges I had as a prefect in class one, I still face them now in later years. But the same God who helped me that time is the same God who is helping me now.

Thus self-awareness begins by understanding that you are never too young to lead, and that God expects you to be leading even right now not in future.

In 1^st Samuel 17:20 we read:

Early in the morning David left the flock with a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”

 Here David is being accused of doing something he hasn’t actually done because he was actually sent by the father there. let’s go on with the story, David has discovered goliath is belittling the children of Israel, so he goes right up to the king and says,  “Let no-one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”

Imagine a small boy, who has not attained military age talking about  the guy who is being feared by everybody that way? The small boy says he wants to actually handle him. To proof he can do it  David said to Saul,

“Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.

Now, with that, he has shown the king that he has fought wild animals, and so he can fight this goliath.

So he is given the military armament of the king. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. With that try he knew he cannot use other armaments before training in  them. Not everything can be copied.

“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.”

 

Day 3

1 Samuel 17

⁴⁵ David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied

So he took kings clothes off. So finally he has to go to face the enemy without any armaments..

Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground. What an exploit by a small boy!!

There are several lessons we can draw out of this. The first lesson which is a very important lesson for us to consider is self-awareness. Self awareness is the most important quality of a leader. But you know self-awareness can have two extremes. You become self-aware and conclude you are helpless and there is nothing much you can achieve. Or you become self-aware and you think you are very good then you become proud. Either extreme is bad. Inferiority complex paralyzes anybody into inaction just like superiority complex will make you unprepared for the battle as you  underrate the opponent. So you need to know either extreme is equally devastating for a leader. David did not suffer   any of these extremes.

He did not suffer from inferiority complex because he is telling the king I have handled big issues before even as a small boy. He was not suffering from inferiority complex. But when he talks with goliath, he tells him you come with your strength; I come in the name of the Lord.

 Again, he did not suffer from inferiority complex. People who suffer from inferiority complex are always paralyzed at any challenges they face, as leaders or as individuals, and because of that being paralyzed, you are not able to do anything. You can’t accomplish anything. You need to commit yourself to come out of that kind of fear if you want to be a leader.

 

But superiority complex has  similar challenges to a leader. When you suffer from superiority complex you underrate your enemies, you underrate the people who are with you and in the end you go without preparing properly. This is because you think you are capable, and that way you make the enemy have a much easier time destroying you.

 There should be a balance between these two extremes. It is the point you know yourself, but also know whose you are.  A lot of us when we want to talk to young people telling them, the youth are leaders of tomorrow, not true! This is because, as a youth, you are a leader now of your generation. If you are not leading your generation now, how would you expect to lead them tomorrow? If you can’t be a leader in primary school, you will not be a leader in university either; you will not be a leader in politics. You will not be a leader  at every age. Every age group requires leaders. The youth are not leaders of tomorrow, they are the leaders of today.

This boy David was already leading as the shepherd and no wonder he will fight the bear and the lion because he was a leader! He was able to protect his sheep. Many years later, the same David can kill goliath. So may the lord help you to understand that you are not leaders of tomorrow, do not postpone what God wants you to accomplish now hoping you can actually deal with it tomorrow.

 Or thinking that you are too young to actually do what needs to be done, no, no, no! For sure there is something you cannot do at your age now, but there are many things you can do now, and so do them! Don’t try to do what is out of your reach, there is something within your reach, you need to be leading in.

 

Day 4

1 Samuel 17

⁴⁸ As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. ⁴⁹ Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground

What is leading? Leadership is influencing, setting direction even for your age mates, showing them the vision we should be pursuing. We can do that now, not tomorrow.

The second lesson I draw from this story is that the God who helps with boyish pursuits, is also able to help with national pursuits. That is the argument this small boy used. In realization it shows he became self-aware. He says, “Haiya! This is the same God who helped me when the lion came? And he is also here. If he can handle the lion, he can handle goliath!”  The God who helps me with my boyish pursuits can help me with national pursuits.  The thing you need to learn is the importance of knowing whose you are. It is not just enough to know yourself, it is also important to know whose you are, and you belong to God. And  if you belong to God, it means that you are not alone as you go through challenges of life. God is going to go with you. His resources are at your disposal. You are not on your own. Who are you then? Whose are you? You belong to God, and there is something God wants you to accomplish.

We also saw that   you may come from a very poor background in terms of your parents are not rich, but remember you don’t belong to your parents! You belong to God! Once you know whose you are, and who you are, it means you can face whatever challenge there is to face however difficult it is. Remember that the God who was helping you in small problems will help in you bigger issues. He remains the same God and because you belong to him, then you are quite okay! You may be poor yourself, but if the employer has enough money, you will do all the projects your employers tell you to do because you are not depending on your own money, you are depending on your employer’s money. Similarly, the big secret and I hope every one of us gets it, is to depend on God owner of all resources.

 So it is very, very important that you ask yourself, what is God’s calling me to be in my life? Once you are certain what God’s calling is in your life, be aware that the God who has called you, and who has helped you since your childhood, he will help you even in your future.

Lesson number three, is from the relationship this small boy has with King Saul. He does not waste or talk ill of the king, not at all! He gives him respect, he talks to him nicely, and when the king suggests that he should wear the armor, the king’s armor, he doesn’t refuse, he tries it, thus  shows respect.

 My friend, if you are going to be a person who will be a leader, you must learn to respect others and so relate well with them. You must be a team player. You must learn to respect your leadership, anybody in authority. If you don’t respect your parents, how do you expect that you yourself will become somebody respected? If you don’t respect your principal if you are in school, or don’t respect the pastor if you are in church you will not relate well with him or those who love him. You want to become somebody who learns how to be rude, without respect ,you then don’t know how to relate with people who can be helpful to you.

 So in the end you will not accomplish much. Respecting authority is one key fundamental thing that will help you in your growth in leadership. That does not mean you cannot question them or give contrary opinion like David did..

Please do mistake respecting authority with copying the weaknesses of authority. Your parents must be respected but you don’t copy their weaknesses! That means there will be things you will not do that your parents have been doing. Maybe your father  drinks alcohol, you will not drink it but you must respect him. So we must learn that people, who become great leaders, learn to respect whoever is in authority. Also they learn to identify what is good in them and what is not, and do not copy what is wrong in them.

 I want to ask you a question, is that the way you are? Are you a person who is rebellious in nature? Don’t want to do what others require you to do without any good reason? Or alternatively, are you the kind of guy who is going to do whatever you are told to do even when it is wrong? When you are asked “why did you do it?” You say “but I was told to do it!’.

 By the time we call you a leader, whatever your age, you need to have the ability to choose to do the right thing, and even if somebody in authority tells you to do the wrong thing, you must with a lot of respect tell them why you cannot do things the way they have said. David knew that he could not fight successfully using the king’s armaments and so he declined using them. No wonder he won the battle. How many times are you failing because you do not think for yourself but just copy what others are doing?

Day 5

1 Samuel 17

“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. ⁴⁰ Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

Lesson number four…. Is  taken  from this aspect  of not being able to wear the armament and going to face goliath in his own skin. I think the lesson I get is be happy in your own skin; don’t try to copy others. It means you, avoid comparisons. Don’t say,’ but this is the way we normally win, or this is the way so and so passed, I will do the same’. You are unique do not die a copy! You are born an original, don’t die a copy.

So we are learning that if you want to be a good leader like David, avoid comparison and doing things the way others are doing them without question. Be happy in your own skin. You have strength, you have weaknesses, but that’s the package God has made in you. With all your strengths and weaknesses, accept both for they make you who God wants you to be. Your weaknesses, you manage them, your strengths, you operate from them. But don’t try to be like somebody else, you will mess up.

 So, the small boy thought, ‘I know how to fight using a sling, I don’t know how to fight using the kind of equipment the king is giving me. So, I will go with my sling, and with my sling, I will win the battle.

What is it you are trying to be? Why are you trying to pretend to be who you are not? the thing that you need to learn is as you try to pretend to be who you are not, in the end you will fail to accomplish the leadership challenge that God has given you, the leadership challenge that God wants to use you to deal with.

 You must learn that God did not make a mistake in creating you the way you are. May be, are you short? You are just the right height to accomplish God’s purpose. Are you tall? You are just the right height to accomplish God’s purpose. Do you speak English with a kikuyu accent? Accept yourself as you are! and you will be surprised that as you are with your sling, with your smooth stone, you are going to kill the goliath that come your way, and you will see you are going to be an accomplished leader.

Finally, lesson number five, goliath says “you are coming to me with stones? What’s wrong with you? Can’t you see who I am? How can you come to me with stones?”. Goliath  was suffering from superiority complex….sure this boy is a joke, he will destroy him. That is superiority complex. But you know, David says, “I come to you in the name of the Lord”. In other words I don’t even trust these stones, I trust in God. It is only God who can give me the strength to aim and not miss your head. So, I do not intend to trust in myself.

So, please do not have self-confidence, instead, have God confidence. God confidence means you first of all find out what God wants with you. Once you sense what he wants with you, go into it! Despite all your weaknesses, be aware that God will make you accomplish and will give you success, despite you weaknesses.

In other words you will accomplish whatever God has called you to, not because you have a lot of strength, not because of your degrees, not because of your competences, not because of your background, but because Christ is going to be in it with you. You come to me with your strength, I come to you in the name of the Lord, and David became victorious.

 

We are talking about David’s self-awareness and drawing lessons from his story. As said above I regard king David as the very best example, of a good leader. There are others leaders in the bible, many of them, but other than Jesus Christ, they will measure up to David.

Day 6

1 Samuel 17

²⁸ When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.

  If you look at the leadership of King David, you see a person who started leading right as a small boy and died a leader. He was all the time doing things that please the Lord. Yet he was human. That’s how we know about the Bathsheba and Uriah’s wife unfortunate story. He was very human but somebody who was self-aware. If you want to know that he was self-aware, just look at the book  of psalms 51, as he is talking to God about the reality of his sinfulness and admitting without any defense and excuses, that he is the one who had failed, but that he knows that God who forgives  sin. He is crying to God “give me a new heart! Restore unto me the joy of your salvation. That is what makes David such an attractive figure. You know if someone is so perfect some will say, “aii! I don’t think anybody can be at that level”. You feel like I can’t copy that, it is too high. But David is real; you can watch his life and want to follow him. There are many things in the process that you also have failed in, but you believe in a God who can help you out of it.You therefore also can be a leader despite your many weaknesses.

Self-awareness as we have seen above is understanding that there are certain things you can’t do, but there are thing you can do at your age! There are certain things that require money and you don’t have money so you can’t do, but there are many other things that don’t require money and you can do!

As we saw if you don’t learn that ability to self-assess yourself, see the level you are, and accept to  operate at your level, and avoid  what we call procrastination, always thinking when I grow old, I will do this, when I grow old, I will do that the other, my friend you will waste time and lose experience that could help you later.

As we have seen above this small boy David was a leader as a shepherd, for he would face serious troubles and pray to God for help. God would deal with them. That is how he was prepared to be able to handle Goliath later.

            From the way he related with Saul the other lesson here I am learning is that if you are going to be a good leader, you must be interested in studying other people’s leadership style. Look at the way your mother leads your family, look at the way your father leads his family, look at the way the headmaster leads your school, look at the way the pastor leads the church, give them respect!

Also remember we saw that you should not think that because your father failed, you will also fail, do not think because Nganga failed, you will also fail, why? Reason being, you don’t belong to Nganga but to God. The emphasis is that, people that end up being leaders respect the Lord’s anointed and that was one key thing about David. Even when King Saul would later attempt to kill him later, he remained respectful.

 Leadership means knowing what is required and trying to get what is required but in a way that honors those in authority, those who are older than you, those who are your leaders,

Good leaders are the ones who accomplish things the way they are able to without having to think that, ‘because I am not like so and so I cannot accomplish’.

 Let me ask you, what is it that God is asking you to achieve currently? Not far into the future? But because you feel like I don’t have this, I don’t have the other, so and so is better than me, you are not even trying because of trying to compare yourself with others. I ask it differently, what are the gifts God has given you?

Day 7

1 Samuel 17

⁴⁵ David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. 

I have written a book called Discovering Your Life’s Purpose, and that is still part of this issue of self-awareness. There is a calling on your life, and nobody else has been called like that. Only you have been called to that calling. Your parents do not have that calling. So, go your journey, not your parents. Don’t try to copy somebody else, and you will see you accomplishments will be great.

 So you face life not looking at your history or the history of your relatives, but on God’s calling on your life. So you are not leading in self-confidence. You are moving in God confidence.

Thus self-awareness is understanding who you are, your weaknesses, your strengths. Number two, understanding God’s calling on your life, and what he wants you to accomplish, which may not be what somebody else is supposed to accomplish. Then three, knowing that God will not leave you alone, he will give you the ability to accomplish your calling.

 So you don’t trust in yourself, you trust yourself in God’s hands. And I pray that as you think about David and goliath story, note his self-awareness. This small boy was so self-aware, Eliab his brother is frightening him but he doesn’t get frightened, goliath tried to frighten, without success.  This is because he knows what God has done through him before as he faced a lion, as he faced a bear.He is self-aware of the God he believes in, so he is able to face Goliath. He had understanding that God’s battle are fought by God, and as he goes into it, he is going in the name of the Lord, and the Lord himself would handle it.

In conclusion may the Lord help every one of us to move away from trusting self to starting to trusting God, number one. Number two, may we make a commitment to follow God’s calling in our life, and putting our hands in it, rather than fearing and becoming paralyzed because the enemy is great.

 

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Marketplace Leadership - The Nehemiah Style
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A Leader's Source of Influence
Christian Professionals - Leading in the Marketplace
The Character of an Influential Leader
Leadership King David's Style
Integrity - The Litmus Test of Good Leadership
The Leader as a Steward
Finding a Life Partner
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