Our Daily Bread: Character-Driven LeadershipSample

Don’t Walk Away

I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart. -Jeremiah 1:5

Years ago, John Piper nearly quit as minister of a large church. At the time, he admitted in his journal: “I am so discouraged. I am so blank. I feel like there are opponents on every hand.” But Piper didn’t walk away, and God used him to lead a thriving ministry that would reach far beyond his church. Success is a word easily misunderstood, though we might call John Piper successful. But what if his ministry had never flourished?

God gave the prophet Jeremiah a direct call. “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb,” God said. “Before you were born I set you apart” (JEREMIAH 1:5). God encouraged him not to fear his enemies, “for I am with you and will protect you” (V. 8).

Jeremiah later lamented his commission with ironic language for a man with a prenatal calling. “What sorrow is mine, my mother. Oh, that I had died at birth! (15:10).

God did protect Jeremiah, but his ministry never thrived. His people never repented. He saw them slaughtered, enslaved, and scattered. Yet he never walked away. He knew that God didn’t call him to success but to lead in faithfulness. Jeremiah’s resilient compassion shows us the heart of the Father, who yearns for everyone to turn to Him.

TIM GUSTAFSON

Do you sense a call from God? Where in your calling have you encountered discouragement? How do you define success, and how do you react to it when you experience it as a leader?

Father, don’t let me define my value or success in what I do. Help me find purpose and meaning in You.