Problem-solving is one of the qualities of leadership that John Maxwell shares. Read the base scriptures at Genesis 16:1-16.
Hagar and Ishmael
16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”
Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.
When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”
6 “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.
7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.
9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”
11 The angel of the Lord also said to her:
“You are now pregnant
and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,[a]
for the Lord has heard of your misery.
12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward[b] all his brothers.”
13 She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen[c] the One who sees me.” 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi[d]; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
Those who master problem-solving, one of the 21 Indispensable qualities of a leader, find that it's one of the fastest ways to gain leadership in any group. Anyone who can solve problems will never lack influence.
But the influence gained isn't always positive.
Consider the case of Sarah. God told her husband, Abraham, that his offspring would grow as numerous as the sands of the seashore and the stars in the sky. But there was a problem: Sarah was barren and past the age of childbearing. As the years passed, God's promise didn't appear any closer to fulfillment.
Sarah faced a problem and felt compelled to find a solution. Lacking the patience to trust God to keep His promise, Sarah looked to her own methods. After waiting more than a decade for a son, she felt she had waited long enough and, unwisely, attempted to fulfill God's will in her own way, through an Egyptian servant named Hagar.
Sarah's solution, however, gave her no peace. When Hagar became pregnant by Abraham and bore a son named Ishmael, Sarah despised both Hagar and her newborn son. Hagar had done what she was asked, but satisfaction eluded Sarah.
Control Freak!
The actual problem facing Sarah was not a need for offspring, but her own impatience. Sarah wanted control, something that has afflicted many leaders throughout history. Instead of trusting God, Sarah tried to make the promise come true by using her own methods and according to her own timetable. She depended upon her own strength when she should have leaned on Almighty God. She illustrates what happens when an insecure leader tries to work independently of God. Insecure leaders:
- Believe God is inattentive, absent, or even against them.
- Allow their circumstances to determine their understanding of God's character.
- See life through a perspective of scarcity rather than abundance.
- Become self-seeking and manipulative.
- Feel intimidated and deal with others through intimidation.
- Resent the success of others and angrily turn on them.
- Think that if one person succeeds, someone else must lose.
- Blame others for their dilemmas.
- See themselves as martyrs.
- Conclude that attempts at control are seen as more logical than trusting God.
Do you identify with Sarah? Do you struggle with a desire to control problems rather than doing things God's way? If so, ask God to reveal how He would have you deal with your issues in a way that honors Him.
Identifying with the problem-solving that Sarah goes through starts with belief. When the faith in the belief is strong, everything aligns. How do you keep your faith strong as you figure out ways to solve problems?
This is the squirrel in our front yard that was thanking us for feeding it. The squirrels and birds have faith and belief that they will be fed every day. I think that is a miracle that the Lord provides.