The Anointing Before the Appointment: How God Shapes Leaders in Obscurity
Series premise: When God called David to be king, He didn’t give him a crown—He gave him a Goliath. But before the giant, there was a pasture. Before the applause, there was anonymity. Before the appointment, there was anointing.
The Call You Can’t Put on a Business Card
David was anointed in 1 Samuel 16—and then went right back to tending sheep. No palace tour. No rapid promotion. Just more early mornings, more ordinary work, and more faithfulness when nobody was watching.
“The LORD looks at the heart.” — 1 Samuel 16:7 (NKJV)
“He also chose David His servant, And took him from the sheepfolds; From following the ewes that had young He brought him, To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance. So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.” — Psalm 78:70–72 (NKJV)
David’s public victory over Goliath was forged in the private classroom of obscurity. That is God’s pattern with servant leaders: formation first, platform later.
What God Forms in the Pasture
1) Identity over Image
Before David learned to carry a sword, he learned to carry God’s name. Obscurity disarms our addiction to optics. It teaches us to be the same person when nobody claps as when everybody claps.
2) Integrity over Opportunity
Hidden places are where consistency becomes character. The pasture trains you to keep small promises, tell the whole truth, and choose the hard right over the easy wrong.
“He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.” — Luke 16:10 (NKJV)
3) Skill under Stewardship
Shepherding refined David’s craft—alertness, accuracy, situational awareness. Excellence is not showmanship; it’s stewardship.
“And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,” — Colossians 3:23 (NKJV)
4) Patience with Purpose
Waiting isn’t wasted—it’s weight training. It builds holy resilience and calibrated timing.
“For who has despised the day of small things? For these seven rejoice to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the Lord, which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.” — Zechariah 4:10 (NKJV)
Servant Leadership Lessons (Part 1)
Anointing ≠ Appointment. A calling is real before it is recognized. Live worthy of a role you don’t yet hold.
Private Faithfulness Precedes Public Fruitfulness. God measures what we do with “little” things before entrusting us with bigger things (the “much”)
Preparation Loves Obscurity. Lions and bears (small hard things) are God’s rehearsal for giants (big visible things).
Excellence Is Love Made Visible. Doing unseen work well is a way to love God and our neighbor—before the heat and pressure of the stage lights.
Humility Is the Highway. The faster your platform outgrows your character, the more dangerous your success becomes.
Formation Is Ongoing. Even after breakthrough moments, wise leaders keep submitting their growth to God’s shaping.
Applications for Business & GovCon
1) When You’ve Been “Anointed” (Early Momentum, Tailwinds, or Set-Asides)
Convincing the customer to take the Super 8(a) route (e.g., ANC/Tribal) is just the anointing, not appointment. Treat it as a trust to be stewarded, not a shortcut to skip preparation and discipline.
Pasture Practices:
Infrastructure before scale: Mature your back office—contracts, compliance, pricing, accounting systems (DCAA readiness), and recruiting pipelines—before chasing large IDIQs.
Capability statements that tell the truth: Lead with validated past performance and repeatable processes, not wish lists.
2) Overcoming “Incumbent‑itis”
Incumbency can make you sloppy—assuming recompetes will auto-renew because “the customer loves us”. David still practiced with a sling after prior wins; incumbents must keep practicing, too.
Pasture Practices:
Zero-base your recompete: Revisit the mission like your challenger will. Map shifts in customer pain, tech stack, and program priorities.
Red Team your Black Hat early: Invite outsiders to attack your strategy and proposal in light of the competitive landscape while there’s time to fix it—not after you’ve committed resources to the pursuit.
3) The Myth of the “Wired” Deal
Even when a deal seems pre‑disposed, you still have to earn the win. David refused Saul’s armor and used what he had mastered; you should, too.
Pasture Practices:
Don’t rest on your laurels: Honor the work you’ve already done by listening, learning, and preparing, not by doing “whatever” got you here.
Small wins, stacked: Build a “lions and bears” ledger—or put differently; crawl, walk, run—document small contracts delivered with excellence; convert those into relevant CPARS and compelling past performance narratives.
4) People First, Then Pipeline
David’s shepherd heart came before his warrior resume. In GovCon and business, culture is the true moat.
Pasture Practices:
Regular PMR/Risk Reviews: Conduct monthly “pasture reviews” with delivery teams to surface issues before they show up in CPARS.
Coach up your PMO: Invest in your managers’ ability to listen, coach, and protect the mission—especially under pressure.
5) Excellence in the Unseen
Proposals are often won in the “invisible” hours—capture notes, call plans, color team prep, past performance curation.
Pasture Practices:
Standards > Slogans: Create a pre‑RFP readiness checklist (customer intimacy, solution maturity, teaming gaps, price-to-win model). Decline bids that don’t pass the gate.
No now = Yes later: Good business decisions often look like closed doors before they appear as open windows.
A Pasture Plan: 30 Days of Hidden Faithfulness
Week 1 — Clarify Calling
Write a one-sentence purpose for your role/team.
Identify your “pasture”—the mundane responsibilities that shape you.
Week 2 — Build Daily Excellence
Choose two small tasks to do at an elite level every day (e.g., contact reports, code reviews, customer notes).
Track consistency publicly within your team to normalize excellence.
Week 3 — Practice Obedience in the Small
Pick one integrity habit (e.g., precise financials, honest pWin assessments).
Give quiet credit—publicly honor someone else’s unseen contribution.
Week 4 — Prepare for the Giant
Document three “lions and bears”—the lily pads that will get you to the big win.
Build muscle memory through small jobs that “look like” the big one(s) you want to win later.
Reflection Questions
Where is your current “pasture”—and how might God be forming your heart there?
What small promises do you need to keep this week to rebuild trust?
Which unseen excellence (in delivery, compliance, or capture) most honors your customers right now?
Where have you been wearing “Saul’s armor”—copying someone else’s tools instead of sharpening your own?
If God promoted you tomorrow, what character gaps today would become tomorrow’s crises?
What’s one “lion or bear” win you can pursue this month to prepare for larger opportunities?
“Anointing isn’t appointment. God forges leaders in obscurity so they can carry the weight of visibility.”
What’s Next
Part 2 — Goliath as a Gateway: Courage, Conviction, and Craft Under Pressure will unpack David’s battlefield moment and introduce the 5C Framework (Calling, Character, Competence, Courage, Community) for facing your giant with clarity and grace.
