Sometimes we find ourselves going round and round in circles. Reading 1 Samuel 26 sounded familiar even though I had taken a break from slowly meandering through this book looking for leadership lessons.
But it seems David also had a sense of déjà vu and determined enough was enough. He had already determined that Saul could never be trusted again but must not be killed by him.. But here he was again, being hunted by his king and tempted by his friends to take matters into his own hands.
Sometimes we spend years going round and round in circles. We do the same old things because we don’t know any different. We make the same mistakes. We run the same programs. We fail to appreciate that if years of doing the same thing has not brought success there comes a point where enough is enough.
Leaders need to make radical decisions. For right or wrong, David did just that. He decided enough was enough and took his company of followers and went to live away from Gods people. We see that played out in 1 Samuel 27.
You could argue the rights and wrongs of such a decision. It forced him away from fellowship with Gods people. It condemned him to living a violent double life. It made him a deceiver. But it got him away from being chased by Saul and meant that he would never again be tempted to take matters into his own hands and kill the king.
Radical fleeing from temptation. Radical leaving an unhealthy situation. Radical shutting down of an unfruitful ministry. Never easy decisions. But sometimes it’s better to do something rather than continue on in circles.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In