Four Faces of Anointing: The Lion
“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face,” heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson famously said. This was his response to a reporter’s question about the fight plan of Tyson’s rival, Evander Holyfield. I’m sure one well-landed punch to the head from a champion like Tyson could temporarily, if not permanently, erase any thoughts a competitor had at the time. After all, an online article claims, back in the day, a Tyson punch was equivalent to being hit by a Vespa and shot with 13 guns in the face. I don’t know how true that is, but the boxing world doesn’t call Tyson “Iron Mike” for nothing.
Let’s put a spin on Tyson’s words for the purpose of this post. Here it is: Everyone has a vision until they get attacked by the enemy. Think about that for a minute.
In our last post, we talked about the four faces of a leader’s anointing—the eagle, the lion, the ox, and the man. Together, we looked at how the eagle represents vision, the treasure of heaven entrusted to leaders. We learned some good things about vision:
It’s the number-one most treasured asset or commodity a leader can possess.
It’s the difference maker in leadership.
It’s conditional to obedience.
It’s not the same as human imaginations and planning.
It’s not momentum.
It comes from waiting on God.
But what happens when something in life knocks you and your vision flat out on your back? You will need something—smelling salts, at least—to help you get back up again, shake yourself out of your concussed state, stand, and fight once more. You will need the lion anointing, and that’s courage.
Anointing Needed in the War Zone
Vision does not exist in a bubble. No, it lives in a war zone, and so do we. As leaders, we can be guilty of thinking, I’ve got vision. I believe I received a divine plan, and it’s going to come to pass. The vision is going to become reality—and soon! Sounds a bit optimistic, yes, but leaders must possess a certain amount of optimism or belief that their vision will become a reality. We must remember we are living in a combat zone. We are in a spiritual war whether we believe it, whether we like it, whether we want it to be so or not. In this war, there is no demilitarized zone. There is no Switzerland.
I also want to remind you that you have an enemy. And he is waiting to pounce. To use biblical language, he is “crouching at the door” (Genesis 4:7 NLT). Or as the apostle Peter said, “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8 ESV). The devil is an equal opportunity destroyer, and he doesn’t play by the rules. He is not merciful. He plays in the shadows. He camouflages himself in everyday life, waiting to knock your block off. He is a skilled sniper, too, by the way. He stalks you, looking to put you in the crosshairs of his scope. So, that vision that you have received from the mountaintop encounter with God needs to be contended for.
If I had the ability, I would pull back the invisible curtain around our three-dimensional realm and expose you to the “other” realm all around us, where the enemy and his cohorts are waging war against you and me and heavenly hosts. Your vision and my vision, then, need the lion anointing in us to stand and fight in both realms. It’s war, and courageous wartime leadership is in hot demand.
The Face of the Lion: Courage
Vision from heaven cannot be accomplished by mere human effort. It takes courage from God. It takes divine empowerment. It takes the Lion anointing—the anointing from the Anointed One who faced the enemy on many occasions and overcame him. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah defeated the devil for us.
Proverbs 28:1 (ESV) says, “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.” We must remind ourselves of a very important truth: The Lion of the Tribe of Judah dwells in us. He is the very courage we don’t think we have. He is the very anointing that we need. As the apostle John noted, “But the anointing that you have received from him abides in you” (1 John 2:27 ESV). It’s like a box with a table in it from Ikea. When you open the box, you don’t just pull out the tabletop, but you have the legs or base and other necessary parts to put the thing together. Everything you need is right in the box.
Similarly, the anointing you received is within you. It’s included in the package. And that is very important to understand because you don’t always know you possess courage until you are threatened, confronted, or attacked. Courage emerges in the face of adversity or trouble.
Courage means we don’t back down. We stay the course in the face of any obstacle, adversity, or adversary. It means we do not compromise.
Peacetime leaders look to diplomacy, negotiation, and compromise as a means of securing what they have, not knowing that by making that decision they have already lost. There is no virtue in détente.
Wartime leaders, on the other hand, refuse to back down and understand that peace tomorrow in future generations will be the product of their courage and sacrifice today.
Winston Churchill returned to his old school, Harrow, on October 29, 1941, and said:
This is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.
What can we say then? Courage never gives in.
Got Courage?
The apostle Paul told the Corinthian believers to examine themselves, “to see whether [they were] in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5 ESV). Paul was asking the Corinthians to test themselves, and we leaders need to test ourselves as well. Here are some questions to ask yourself:
Am I in the faith?
Do I believe that God’s anointing is within me?
Do I believe that God is with me?
Am I showing up each day on the field of battle, equipped in God’s armor and ready to fight, or am I hiding in fear?
Have I been in so many battles of late that I feel like I’m suffering spiritual PTSD and have lost hope, thinking things are never going to change?
Do I have courage, the fortitude to face any enemy and any challenge?
Sometimes, we leaders have more confidence in our adversary than we do in God, our Champion. If we really understood how much God is with us and for us, we would have greater courage to rise up. The angel of the Lord told fearful Gideon, who was hiding in the winepress, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor” (Judges 6:12 ESV).
Leader, perhaps you’re in hiding. Maybe you’re just good and tired, and you feel like throwing in the towel and giving up. It’s not time to give up or give in. It’s time to rise in courage, O mighty man of valor. It’s time to rise in courage, O mighty woman of valor, “who knows whether you have not come … for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14 ESV).
Remember God is with you (see Matthew 1:23). You are more than a conqueror (see Romans 8:37). And the One within you is greater than anything or anyone you’re facing (see 1 John 4:4). You are anointed with the courage of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. It’s time to release His roar!
Steward Courage
We must be intentional in stewarding courage. Courage is like a muscle. It needs to be challenged. It needs to be exercised. So, here are some ways to do that:
Pray. Prayer changes you. It changes your attitude. It corrects, directs, and encourages you. If you don’t know what to do, pray. If you think you know what to do, pray. Ask the Lion to release His roar through you. Ask Him for more courage.
Read the Bible. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17 ESV). You need faith to fight, faith to stand, faith to speak, and faith to please God. Faith in God and His Word is the “can do” of courage.
Take a risk. Do something that you’ve been avoiding because it seemed too hard.
Take a stand. In a world where everyone else avoids being “cancelled by culture,” stand up. Stand in the Truth—not “your truth” or someone else’s truth. Stand against culture for the sake of righteousness.
Speak up. Preach the Word of God amid a culture that doesn’t only ignore the Word, but aggressively hates God’s Word. Be that preacher. Speak up for those who don’t have a voice. Be that speaker.
Walk away from compromise and temptation. Turn your back on anything that would seek to steal your integrity or dishonor God. Always run toward righteousness.
One last note on courage. It’s a command from God to all His leaders. Just look at what God told His servant Joshua upon Joshua’s leading the children of Israel into the Promised Land: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9 ESV).
Be strong and courageous, leader. God is with you wherever you go, and He will strengthen you and enable you to bear the burden of your assignment like the ox. We will talk about the face of the ox next time.
