Standing in the Gap: Faithful Leaders Preserve Peace

``So let me ask you, are you willing to stand in the gap? One faithful man or one faithful woman, just one Tola or one Jair can delay destruction. One praying grandmother can protect a family. One righteous pastor can protect the church. One devoted father or mother can protect the household. And when heaven records the history, you may not hear how famous you were, but you may hear how much chaos did your faithfulness prevent because you did what you were supposed to do. Are you willing to stand in the gap? [01:33:13] (46 seconds)  #standinthegap

Apostolic leadership is not measured by destruction, but by disasters that are prevented. The greatest miracle in these five verses is not what happened. It's what did not happen. How many like to live in peace? people don't like, don't enjoy living in chaos, living in drama, living now some people do. Some people thrive on drama. I don't know about you, but I appreciate peace. appreciate the times of peace. Most people don't really even like conflict. Some do. [01:28:48] (48 seconds)  #peaceoverdrama

And Jair built what Abimelech had destroyed. Abimelech killed 69 brothers, and he would have killed 70 if he could. His own brothers, his own flesh and blood because he wanted to rule. Because he thought he was more important than the rest of them. He thought he was more important than what was right, so he killed his brothers. Jay Air, on the other hand, raised 30 sons and poured into them legacy, heritage, righteousness, leadership. One leader destroys his family, another one develops family. [01:24:58] (44 seconds)  #buildnotdestroy

Forty five years of peace, forty five years of stability, forty five years of prosperity, forty five years of blessing, no national collapse, no wars, no invasion, no national crisis. None of that happened. And here's what you need to understand, that the greatest leaders often serve in obscurity. Reading, I've often said for many years that some of the greatest generals spiritually in the body of Christ, nobody knows their name. [01:18:58] (33 seconds)  #unsungleaders

Can you imagine that this bridge was there for decades, and nobody thanked the bridge? Nobody applauded the bridge. Nobody admired the bridge. Because the bridge never failed. It did what a bridge is supposed to do. Its greatest accomplishment was that it carried the weight quietly day after day after day. But then the engineer that was called to inspect it made an interesting statement. The strongest bridges are often the least noticed because nobody thinks about them until there's a problem or until they're gone or until they fail. [01:03:39] (51 seconds)  #quietstrength

The next thing you know, because you're not reading your bible like you should, because you're not fasting like you should, because you miss church every now and then. You become complacent, and the next thing you know, sin creeps into your life, and you start doing things that you know you should not do. You start going places that you know you should not go. You start doing things that are wrong. You know they're wrong, but, you know, who's watching? Who cares anyway? Because you have become complacent, and you compromise. [01:32:07] (26 seconds)  #slidingintosin

Israel needed somebody that could stand in the gap. There are many times in our life we need somebody to stand in the gap. We need somebody to pray for us. We need somebody to cover us. We need to know that when we're going through storms, somebody is there we can talk to if we need to. Somebody is praying and lifting us up into the king of kings and the lord of lords. Some people are called to build. Some are called to fight. Some are called to heal what others have broken. [01:20:59] (28 seconds)  #coveringprayer

One leaves death and carnage in his path, another one leaves legacy in his path. Abimelech was obsessed with power, of being in charge, of doing it his way, but it was chaotic. Jair was invested in succession, in influence, in transfer, in legacy, in passing it down. 30 sons. 30 sons. Can you imagine that? That'd be a house full to feed, wouldn't it? And they had 30 donkeys. Look at your neighbor and say, hey. Say it. Come on. Hey. Donkeys matter. [01:25:42] (39 seconds)  #legacyoverpower