Look, is that smoke?

1 David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it, 2 and had taken captive the women and all who were in it, both young and old. They killed none of them, but carried them off as they went on their way.

 3 When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 4 So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. 5 David's two wives had been captured—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 6 David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God. 1 Samuel 30:1-6

Can you imagine the scene?

You were just spared from fighting against your own people and no loss of life, no shame; the emotions are running high and you're "high fiving" each other!

Then you see it, the smoke, your heart sinks and you start running to your families. But, they're not there, nothing is left.

You go from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows.

You weep until there is nothing left of you.

Then, the questions; "why?", "who's responsible?"

"David! He brought us here and had us bring our families! He's the one that ticked off the Amalekites! He's the one that inducted into the Philistine Army!"

"Our families are gone, he deserves to die!"

Here's what I was reminded of today.

David had not been seeking the Lord's guidance for awhile now and was taking God's grace for granted. They were apparently not asking God to go
before them in battle, so I assume that they weren't asking for God's protection over their families either. The enemy loves to attack in the places we are most vulnerable, so I must pray daily for God's protection over my family.

When God tells you to do something, you better do it. Saul was told to "wipe out" all of the Amalekites, because he didn't it had devastating consequences for others.

Your sin cannot be hidden and has consequences. God will not be mocked and you will reap what you sow. David was careless, arrogant and did not seek God before he ran to safety and protection in the land of the Philistines.

It always should cost more for the leader. I changed that because I do believe that are some in leadership who won't pay the price. Here is what I'm getting at, leadership is tough, and most people want the position
without the responsibility. I forgot who said it, but I've used this phrase for some time now, "Leadership is about making decisions other people choose not to make." Every decision you make is for something and against something else, and usually you will leave a good number of people unhappy about your choice. If your choice turns out bad, well you guessed it; you might have people picking up stones! I must ask for wisdom and guidance on everything! Really, everything? Yes, it always turned out bad for them when they thought they could handle the battle!

Accept responsibility for your sins and turn back to God for strength. This is what separated David from Saul; David found his strength in the Lord, Saul consulted a witch; David repents, Saul doesn't.

Those are the things that God reminded me of, what about you?