God's ways are not our ways. We tend to equate leadership with lordship; He equates leadership with servanthood. We want strength so we can help God with His work; He makes us weak so He can demonstrate His power. We advertise our credentials so others can be more sure of us; He lets us fail so they can see that apart from God we're not much at all.

We are inclined to focus on personalities, to be impressed by the intellect, education, and strength of a leader's will. Followers begin to believe that a particular leader can do no wrong. Such adulation, however, is nothing more than humanism—making a human being the measure of all things. What's worse, it's idolatry—centering our devotion on someone other than God.

So God lets leaders fall off their pedestal. Failure, indecision, and underachievement bring them to a humbling realization of their own inadequacy—and can cause followers to lose their illusions and overdependence on those leaders. This is a good reminder that all of us—leaders and followers alike—walk through life on "feet of clay." Ultimately, the only good thing about any one of us is the goodness of God. That's why we need to recognize that "our sufficiency is from God" (2 Corinthians 3:5).    — David H. Roper