Learning to lean upon God and His understanding is critical in moving forward in our personal walk with the Lord. It is also critical to model this for those we lead. Whether we like to accept the fact or not, we are influencers. We either model the leaning stance, or we are modeling walking in our own strength.

Thousands of years ago King Asa trusted in the Lord and leaned on His understanding, experiencing some of the same blessings and obstacles we confront. 2 Chronicles 14:2-6 declares, Asa did what the LORD his God said was good and right. . Asa commanded the people of Judah to follow the LORD, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his teachings and commandments. So the kingdom had peace while Asa was king. "This country is ours, because we have obeyed the LORD our God. We have followed him, and he has given us peace all around.” So they built and had success. We see Asa, as an emerging leader, instructing the people to obey the commandments of the Lord.

First we need to lean is obeying what we already know God has declared through His written Word. Leaders teach by precept and example. We need to model what the Word says about walking in forgiveness, or dealing with offenses. We must practice walking in love and taking advantage of times to share how we conformed to God’s Word rather than our own thinking so that our followers see the reality of God's Word working and changing us.

Secondly we need to be aware of those critical times when we must make sure we are not leaning on our own understanding. When facing difficult situations, natural disasters, and during spiritual attacks our followers must see us leaning on God.

King Asa demonstrated this when his enemies attacked Judah. 2 Chronicles 14:8-12 Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men from Judah and two hundred eighty thousand men from Benjamin. The men from Judah carried large shields and spears. The men from Benjamin carried small shields and bows and arrows. All of them were brave fighting men. Then Zerah from Ethiopia came out to fight them with an enormous army and three hundred chariots. ... Asa called out to the LORD his God, saying, “LORD, only you can help weak people against the strong. Help us, LORD our God, because we depend on you. We fight against this enormous army in your name. LORD, you are our God. Don’t let anyone win against you.” So the LORD defeated the Ethiopians when Asa’s army from Judah attacked them, and the Ethiopians ran away.

King Asa faced overwhelming odds. I am sure the temptation came to think about compromise, surrender or flight. Instead he declared his trust in the Lord. Asa’s father was an inconsistent leader; in fact Scripture declares that he was not loyal to the Lord God. However, there was one instance where Abijah fought against Jeroboam and declared “But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken Him " ( 2 Chronicles 13:10) They fought against and army twice as big as their own and won. Perhaps that is why when his son Asa became king, he trusted in the Lord to win as well. Asa was influenced by his father’s trust in the Lord.

Our followers will be like us. By chapter 16, we find Asa depending on his own wisdom asking for help from the King of Aram, not the Lord, just like his father had leaned on his own understanding before him. God sent His prophet Hanani to proclaim: “Because you have put your trust in the king of Aram instead of in the LORD your God, you missed your chance to destroy the army of the king of Aram. Don’t you remember what happened to the Ethiopians? and Libyans and their vast army, with all of their chariots and horsemen? At that time you relied on the LORD, and he handed them all over to you. The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. What a fool you have been! From now on, you will be at war.” Asa became so angry with Hanani for saying this that he threw him into prison. At that time, Asa also began to oppress some of his people. And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but the physicians. So Asa rested with his fathers; he died in the forty-first year of his reign. (2 Chronicles 13:7-13)

King Asa stopped leaning on the Lord for insight and instruction. He became strong in his own sight and refused to listen to the prophet of the Lord. He actually had the prophet of the Lord thrown in prison, and began to oppress his people. His legacy as a faithful king was tarnished. By God’s grace, his son Jehoshaphat reigned as next king of Judah and was faithful to God’s ways. We need to walk even more carefully as we grow in our sphere of leadership influence that we do not stop leaning on God and His wisdom.

Important times to make sure we are not leaning upon our own understanding:

• After good success
• When we have to make a “quick or pressing decision”
• When we are tired or do not feel well
• When we are struggling with our own sense of worth or ability

Every parent has experienced the surprised blessing or at times curse of having our children mimic us. As leaders we are asking people to "follow me as I follow Christ." Are your people struggling with leaning upon themselves? Ask God if it is a reflection of your own need to rely even more securely upon Jesus. As you seek to lean more securely you will find your people doing the same. If God reveals that you are indeed leaning on Him but that those behind you need more help in this area try asking your disciple (Christ-follower) this simple question: "What has God told you about that? "The answer to this simple question reveals much about their "leaning stance". Maybe we need to ask our self the same question.

What has God told you about that?