by John D Carmack

Created on: March 15, 2009

Leadership is one of the key components to a successful team, unit or army. The US Army has had over 200 years of experience creating leaders that must influence young people to go to war and possibly die. There is a saying in the US Army that "you can delegate authority, but you cannot delegate responsibility." That does not mean that the leader takes the blame for wrong decisions of their subordinates, but it does mean that a leader takes corrective action in order that wrong behavior doesn't continue.

God is the ultimate leader. He is the First Cause of the universe. He is the One Who created it all. He has authority over all. He, therefore, has overarching responsibility for it all.

Does that mean, however, that God is to blame every time something goes wrong? An NCO that is doing their job will give out clear instructions as to when formations take place. Is the NCO to blame if a soldier is consistently late? No, but the NCO would be responsible if the soldier was consistently late and the NCO did nothing to deter the behavior.
God Himself says something interesting in the Book of Job. Remember, Satan took away everything Job had, including his sons and daughters. It was Satan who did this, but he needed God's permission to do these things. Yet, God says, "Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although THOU MOVEDST ME against him, to destroy him without cause" (Job 2:3, emphasis mine).

God did not shirk from His part in this! Satan could not have touched Job without God's permission. Yet, God uses evil, even Satan himself, to teach and cause people to learn and to grow. Satan refuses to learn, and that attitude permeates much of the earth. Job, however, did learn something about himself and his standing with his Creator.

Because God doesn't seem to act immediately to punish evil doers, it can seem that He is slack in upholding righteousness. However, we need to recall that Adam and Eve chose to go it their own way. They took to themselves the prerogative of determining good from evil. They were in a perfect paradise. They were lulled into thinking that life was easy and that they could do without dependence upon God. Because of their disobedience, they were put into an environment where things can go wrong quite easily. This environment would force them to realize just how fragile their existence is and just

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