“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe” (Proverbs 18:10).
Difficult circumstances often bring out the worst in people. I know that happens with me. I can be having a great day, but if something goes wrong with my car or my computer I’m suddenly snapping at my kids.
1 Samuel tells how King David and his men faced an extreme trial. They had marched for 36 hours straight, only to discover that their wives and children had been kidnapped or murdered and all their earthly possessions were stolen. NOT a good day!
How would you have responded? How did they respond? These difficult circumstances brought out their worst. “David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters” (1 Samuel 30:6a).
The men blamed David for their loss, which often happens to leaders. When things go well, it’s a great team victory. But when things take a turn for the worse, the leader takes the hit. It happens in secular corporations, and sometimes it even happens in the church. People are fickle, and that’s why leaders need to respond like David did.
The best part about David’s story is that the very same difficult circumstances which brought out the worst in his men brought out the best in David. As author Eugene Peterson says, “In the chaos of lamentation, anger, and bitterness, with storm clouds of murder rolling in across the horizon … David found strength in the Lord his God” (1 Samuel 30:6b).
When things got rough, David did not turn to books, or doctors, or psychologists, or food, or drugs. He turned to God! And this should be our regular habit as well. We need to seek God every day, and not just when disaster falls. A steady stream of seeking the Lord will turn us TO God and not AWAY from Him when the storm strikes.
Posted in A Word from the Pastor