This post is the revelatory teaching notes that Dr. Aikens taught from in the Bootcamp entitled “Higher Call Leadership & Setbacks”. Posted by Rev. Jane Babich after attending the Bootcamp
In the darkness caused by setbacks, understanding is often void and to the ordinary eye, there seems to be no purpose for the setback. There will be many leaders present in that sort of darkness, and if they are not trained to look away from that obvious darkness unto God, they will remain in a setback.
However, there are some higher call leaders who are not affected by what they don’t see, and they will remain steadfast, and they will see what they have accomplished in the dark when the light comes on or revelation is revealed.
Trust me when our hearts cannot become content in Godly ways and things, eventually, we’ll make foolish decisions that end up shipwrecking our call and eventually we lose all we’d gained in God, just like Saul.
1 Timothy 2:19 tells us God knows them that are his.
He will cause those he knows in their hearts have come to despise higher call leadership and it’s anointings; to suddenly come to realize that unbeknownst to them … He may well have been moving to do what may seem foolish to observers.
You see God likes to anoint and equip for His use the very ones that man thinks of as rejects or as being the least likely to succeed. God even seems to have a habit of appointing and anointing us the highly unlikeliest for higher call leadership, in what seems to be way too far ahead of the actual appointed time for our lives to reflect experientially; what we’ve already obtained positionally.
And listen, most of the time our higher call may be relatively unknown to us, therefore, it’s inevitable that in the process of time some of us may become discontent with our lives as this call causes us to go through all sorts of unnecessary changes or setbacks.
God did this with Jacob – His higher call prophesied from the womb and from birth he tried to grasp hold of it through his own efforts.
Moses, Jacob’s father Manoah prayed – But all he knew was Egypt and right when he’s most content with his life, suddenly it turns into what seems to be a nightmare that ends with a burning bush experience 80 years later.
With David, God chose him before he knew him – Appointed and anointed him, then sent him back to the sheepcote where he encounters a bear and then Goliath; and eventually a jealous Saul and subsequently a wilderness experience that lasted 20 years too long. Before he’s ever anointed even his Ziklag burns down and all his men turn to stone him before he becomes experientially what he had been positional since childhood.
Joseph is given a dream and a coat – Which causes his brothers to hate him and his father to rebuke him.
And Paul as Saul – Unknown to him, the Lord uses pricks to goad and move in the direction which would lead him unto higher call leadership, even though he had dedicated his life to being a persecutor of the same call.
The thing is, as we consider the lives we research and compare, they’d all be considered setback kings. Those thinking to track their lives would have been convinced and persuaded them that God somehow must have made a mistake. Not so!
Even those we thought would always be there to encourage us spiritually may counsel that God must have rejected us because of sin in our lives if they get any idea how many setbacks we seem to have to endure is simply for the joy he’s set before us.
If God used us immediately after our anointings or calling, we would probably feel God made a mistake. Sometimes even those of us who’ve been anointed for the higher call leadership and yet are set aside to await an appointed time which only God knows, are also tempted to agree.
This is especially true when we experience what seem to be overwhelming setbacks. Stuff can come in that seems to have the power to threaten not only the little authority we already had but to actually threaten our very lives much less our livelihoods.
But when you know your God, you will occupy and be content at all times as you wait for your change to come in your calling to be a Higher Call Leader, such as the ones we discussed above. Glory!
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