Leadership in Adversity
God is good to us and knows just what we need (James 1). When our faith is tested and we face adversity, God tells us to see it as an opportunity for great joy and growth. God asks us to accept His grace and then to obediently follow Him.
God gives us every day of our lives to be His disciples as best we can be. And that includes making Christ-like disciples of others. Disciples of Jesus make disciples of Jesus. Look around you in your sphere of influence right now. Your parents, your spouse, your children, and your colleagues. Encourage all that you can to press on.
We don’t make disciples on our own. Thank God! The Holy Spirit guides, prunes, disciplines (and humiliates if necessary), and encourages. God is good and loving and patient and kind; His mercy is here today, right when we need it. God is our strength in times of trouble. And He provides us every means to prosper in Him, just as the Loving Father wills.
In the face of economic turmoil, election defeats, and events of rebellion against God’s way and the rejection of the Son of Man as Savior and Redeemer, what do we do? Where do we go and how do we regroup?
Be determined to carry on, to fight on. For God’s people always regroup and commit to building for God. Fight on. In Christ. For the spiritual war will rage, but God is enthusiastically building His eternal Kingdom one soul at a time. Every day.
In 1 Samuel 22 and 23, we see the worst of the worst. An evil king orders his men to execute God’s priests. Like all who do not see by the Holy Spirit and who reject God, Saul thought he was doing God’s will, and he thought God was still with him - although Samuel had made it plain to him that God had rejected him because of his disobedience and love of the things of the world. Saul’s men refused to murder the priests. So Saul ordered Doeg to do it. And he did. Not only did Doeg murder the 85 priests, but he also went to their town and murdered their families as well. Sick. Evil.
There will always be wicked men like Doeg the Edomite - eager to follow evil commands and to do evil and cover up the evil actions of others. But like the main character of Machiavelli’s The Prince, Cesare Borgia - a tragic, syphilis-filled, evil man who had the Pope for a dad and everything the world offered, his end was tragic. He died naked and alone, and humiliated. As all evil little princes eventually will.
Our job is to oppose the Doegs and Cesares of this world and to use well all of the resources God has given us to do so. Be faithful and a hard-working servant of Jesus Christ today. Be humble. Don’t consider yourself too good to do hard work. We need not more kings. We need more harvesters for the King.
In times of great adversity, follow Jesus. We can follow the example of King David in these chapters. He was at a low point. Down and out. At first, he ran and hid. Then, with his band of rebels against evil King Saul, he gathered his senses and led as a man of God ought.
He prayed! Pray! For God commands that we do so. Roll out of bed each day and pray. Don’t worry about droning on and on. Just earnestly and honestly ask our Loving Father for guidance as David did - twice in chapter 23: “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” and “Will the men of Keilah surrender me to Saul?” God answered clearly both times: Go and fight. And yes, they will betray you. David obeyed, saved the city, and escaped before the trap closed.
Ask God: What shall we do? And trust His answer sensed by our spirit and shown to us in Scripture.
We do not know what lies ahead. But we do know God has endowed us with incredible resources of family, friends, and faith in Christ. We know that the man given five bags of silver used them well to earn five more, and then, as told by Jesus in Matthew 25, the King gave him even more. That’s how our generous God orchestrates. God requires us to use our capabilities in faith for Him. Then God gives us more responsibility.
Lord Jesus, help us to hear from You today. Please help and guide us. For we trust You. Amen.
With my gal, Kari-Lynn.
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