…far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right.  (1 Sam.12.23)

Let’s face it, sometimes being a leader really sucks! I mean, when you are a leader, anointed and called by God, we answer to God, not to man. Therefore we have to obey God-no matter what!

Now, check out Samuel, he is highly P.O.ed. The people asked for a king (not a good thing) and sinned against God. Samuel told the people the truth, that asking for a king would be rejecting God, but they did it anyway. This hurt God, and we can see it hurt Samuel as well. Samuel is like, “Guys, I have never lead you astray, I have always told you the truth, rescued you from your enemies. Why are you doing this?” It didn’t matter, they wanted a king, and got one. Done.

Now, here is the kicker. Samuel says, in spite of all this crapy stuff you guys are doing, “I still have to pray for you.” If I don’t pray for you, I won’t be sinning against you, but sinning against God! I answer to God, not to you. God is the One who has put me in this place of leadership, so I must follow and obey His voice.

This is where it sucks sometimes to be a leader. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to just call down fire on those guys and torch about half of them?! The other half would then listen. Yeah, your church would have half the attendance for awhile, but boy they sure would listen next time! Well, that would be in the “preacher perfect” world, but we live in reality. And this is the reality…

• We are called by God and not by man
• We must pray for those we lead, regardless if they heed our words or not
• We continue to love even though they may reject us
• We tirelessly proclaim the truth, no matter how long it takes for them to “get it.”

I know…I feel your pain! Sometimes being a leader really SUCKS!

(P.S. If you would rather do anything else, you may not be called to do this!)