I’m not an early bird, but I wish I was. I’m that person who hears “the early bird gets the worm” and snuggles even deeper into the covers, thinking “who wants a worm, anyway?” Yet I can’t help but appreciate mornings. And what a beautiful morning it was today! It rained overnight and I felt the slightest hint of the approaching autumn weather. It was cool, refreshing, and full of promise. I love mornings like that! I think the greatest part about mornings is that they are a new beginning. A new day, a new start, a new opportunity to live life to the fullest. Mornings are pure, in a way, unmarred by the day’s events or troubles. They are generally more calm and still than mid-day, afternoon, or evening hours. They are steady, and loyal, and true. When morning arrives, and the sun can be seen, we are assured that a new day has arrived.
This morning made me think of 2 Samuel 23, which begins with David’s final words. Verses 2-4 are as follows: “The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me; His word was on my tongue. The God of Israel spoke, the Rock of Israel said to me: ‘When one rules over people in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God, he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings grass from the earth.’”
How cool a description is that?! A righteous leader is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings grass from the earth.
How can a leader be like the light of morning at sunrise? I think we can be like that when we are optimistic about the future ahead. When we see the promise of the new day, and look forward to what is to come. A cloudless morning means full-on sunshine. Full-on illumination. I think a righteous leader can be like that by not shying away from transparency. Not shying away from the realities she is up against. By being upfront and honest and exposing everything relevant in regard to the situation at hand. By seeking the Lord’s wisdom. A leader should be pure, and true, and loyal. Dependable. Just as the sunrise each morning is steady and consistent, so we need leaders who remain true to our values, our purpose, our mission. We need to be able to trust and rely on them. We need them to be bigger than life, consistently offering goodness and light to this world.
How can a leader be like the brightness after rain? Well, you know that fuzzy glow after a rain? It’s almost a hazy, heavy kind of look? Once the rainclouds have moved away, it quickly becomes a bright, refreshed, lush scene. Where there had been dryness, there is renewal. A leader can be like that by harnessing “storms” for the good of his people. A leader can make life and beauty out of hardship, and help her team or group to emerge even more strong, unified, and beautiful than before. A righteous leader shines the brightest in the midst of adversity. He will illuminate the way for others, and alleviate their burden.
I want you to reread the ways I mentioned above, in the last two paragraphs, as far as the ways a leader can be like the one David describes. Jesus is all of those things. He is the ultimate leader. And we can read in scripture that He does not overlook where His authority and power and goodness comes from. It is from His Heavenly Father. From our Heavenly Father.
Are we being good leaders in our respective areas of responsibility? It’s a gift, you know. It might feel like a burden sometimes but it is a great opportunity. Don’t waste it.
Be like Jesus. Be a righteous leader. Be like the light of the morning at sunrise, like the brightness after rain. Fear the Lord and love Him just as fiercely.
Proverb 29, HLC
sacred strokes 