Leadership is a very necessary element of life. It is necessary in the home, in our schools, at work and in the church. However, in order for us to establish necessary order, convictions or moral and ethical standards, we must see beyond a leader and gain insight to the motivations that move those in leadership. We must look beyond issued rules and commands and discover the divine and eternal principles behind them.

Today, we discussed an example of this by looking at the relationship between Deborah, the judge and prophetess of Israel, and Barak, the Captain of Israel's army. This story is found in Judges 4. God spoke directly to Deborah and because Barak realized that God had anointed her and given her divine direction, he obeyed her and went to war with the enemy. Because he looked beyond Deborah and realized that God was working, he obeyed and the children of Israel had a great victory.

While leadership is necessary, it is important that godly leaders teach people not to look to them for all things, but to look to God who works through them. Many times we have seen where people put too much confidence in their leaders, only to see them fail and fall by the wayside. In such cases, if our convictions are not established in God's divine and eternal principles, the people are sure to fail as well.

Leaders move on. They die. They compromise. They change. But if our personal foundation is built on God's revealed Word, we can and will remain faithful despite what may happen to a leader. As the Hebrew writer said so well, may we always "look to Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith".