1 Samuel 30:6
And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
Leadership is a grave and lonely responsibility. When things go right, people want to crown you king. When things go wrong, they want to stone you. The above verse is taken from the story of David, when he was on the run from King Saul. To escape his own king, David ran to the land of his enemy, faked being insane, humiliated himself and lived a false identity to stay safe. In the meantime he attracted other men and women like himself ... those on the run and those who were in debt and those who were wanted by the king for some infraction or another. Notice the verse below as it describes these people who came to follow David and now, in the above passage, want to stone him:
1 Samuel 22:2
And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men.
David had his hands full as he had some who were loyal enough to crawl through the enemy camp to get him a drink of water from his favorite well, and there were others who were ready to stone him at the first sign of distress. In leadership you don't always get to decide who follows you. In fact, often you "inherit" followers from previous leadership. Often you attack followers who are not committed to the mission or work behind the mission because they are there for the benefits, not the work. David, in the above passage, will eventually appease these rebellious folks. They were upset because David had taken them on a mission to fight with the enemy, only to be rejected by the enemy and, upon their return, they discovered that their homes were destroyed, their belongings and families were taken captive. They were holding David responsible ... that is what you do to leadership ... you blame them for things beyond their control. David would gather them together and they would chase down the enemy, recover their "stuff" and family. But, this is a dark time for David. These followers were the only thing he had. Now they wanted to stone him. What could he do? The verse states that David, "... strengthened himself in the Lord his God." David found strength in the Lord. When we are weak and we have lost everything, that is what we are to do ... find our strength in God. Note what Paul tells the church in the book of Colossians:
Colossians 1:29
For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
Paul also prays for their endurance and steadfastness, that it might be in God's power:
Colossians 1:11
May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy,
The truth of the matter is that in life we are going to have times when everyone is against us, or it seems they are. That is when we must find strength in the fact that God is not against us, but for us and the ONE who strengthens us. He gives us power for all endurance and patience with joy under the pressures of life.
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