In the small quaint town of North Tarrytown, New York lies Sleepy Hollow cemetery. And within that cemetery lies the simple grave of one Andrew Carnegie. After immigrating to the US from Scotland, Carnegie amassed the largest fortune the world had ever seen at the time. And he did it using steel as his product. In 1899 Carnegie Steel controlled 25% of the volume in the U.S. and soon after in 1901, he negotiated the sale of his company to J.P. Morgan’s U.S. Steel for a staggering $480 million, about 13 billion today. The sale made him the wealthiest man in the world. And what do you suppose he did with the bulk of the money? He gave it away.
He gave away 350 million of it over the ensuing years earning him the nickname, “the father of modern philanthropy.” His funds built over 2,800 libraries, helped launch PBS, started teacher retirement pensions, and started what is now Carnegie-Mellon University. But Carnegie didn’t just walk through Ellis Island as an immigrant and inherit a steel dynasty, he created it, from the ground up. And the simple leadership principle he used in the creation of his steel empire is carved right into his weathered marble tombstone in that Sleepy Hollow cemetery. “Here lies a man who knew how to enlist the service of better men than himself.”
In life you can’t do much on your own. Although the world will tell us just the opposite. We hear of people that “did it on their own”, were “self-taught”, “made their own way”, and called upon their own “grit” and “willpower” to make something of themselves. But I beg to differ. Unless these people grew up in a cave, never had parents, never went to school, and never interacted with society, their claims of being self-made are based on pride and ego. Nobody makes it on their own, nobody find success on their own, and nobody does it all by themselves.
Today in 1 Chronicles 11 we launch into God’s look at King David and his reign. In fact, we will see David for the remainder of 1 Chronicles and then see his lineage of rulers throughout 2 Chronicles. God gives an abundance of page time to the shepherd boy turned King. And if you were to pen a thesis on the leadership strategy of David, I don’t think you’d have to go much farther than Carnegie’s epitaph. Through the hand of God, David surrounded himself with mighty men that did mighty things in the name of a mighty God.
The story of David’s mighty men starts back in 1 Samuel, and every time I read it, it gives me goosebumps. At this point David was on the run for his very life from crazy King Saul. Saul wasn’t just joking when he said he would kill David. If and when Saul found him, he was going to run him through and then sit down and have a nice lunch. The irony in David’s almost 20 years of running from Saul, is that he was already the God ordained king of Israel. It just hadn’t sunk in for Saul yet. But as David sits in the cave of Adullam lonely, desperate, depressed and more than likely struggling to see how God’s plan for his life could ever come to fruition, God sent mighty men. And God did not send a group of Harvard educated self-starters who had a passion for excellence and a perfect part in their hair, God sent regular men. And then God did with them only what He can do…He makes mighty men and women out of regular people.
“David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there. All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their commander. About four hundred men were with him.” 1 Samuel 22:1-2
God uses regular men and women that are sold out to Him in obedience. He uses hearts that belong to Him to make the mighty warriors that He needs. Here he used men that were distressed, debt-ridden and well, just fed up with life. They were willing to leave their lives, lives they could not manage, and follow where God led them. The only thing they could get right in their life was following God. And God led them to David. David needed those men just as much as those men needed David. A motley crew of men that owed money, were fed up with their worlds and as a result were living in a distressed, anxiety filled condition. Folks, the only peace you can hope to find in this world is through obedience to Almighty God. And these men found their peace and their purpose in the last place their human intellect ever told them they would find it. By walking into a deserted remote cave and aligning with a man of God that was on the run for his life.
Today God is still looking for mighty men and mighty women. He is looking for those that are distressed. Those that are suffering from anxiety, sorrow, and pain. God can and will use a distressed heart and, if obedient to Him, He will make it into a mighty heart for Christ. God can take a life riddled with debt and use it in a mighty way. There is a peculiar side effect of debt, it steals your hope, degrades your purpose, and makes your debt ridden spirits feel as poor as your balance sheet says you are. Folks, if you are facing a seemingly insurmountable pile of debt today, start managing your money God’s way...today. Margie and I were facing tons of debt and we paid it off over 14 years ago and never again attempted to manage money our way. If we can do it, so can you. God can take lives that are in financial ruins and, if those hearts are unconditionally offered to Him, use them as mighty men and women for His kingdom. God is also looking for lives that are discontent. Are you unsatisfied with your life today? Most people in this world are. Without a true, worthy purpose, what is the point of life? There is no true purpose in satisfying your own desires, making money for yourself, or building your own empire of comfort and convenience. All of these will accompany you straight to the grave. But God can take a discontent heart and transform it. He can transform it with purpose, His eternal purpose.
Folks, today God is looking for mighty men and women. David led those men and together they achieved mighty things for the kingdom of God. And on the flip side of that coin, those men allowed themselves to be led by David. Today, allow yourself to be led by Christ. Give your heart to Him. Declare your full obedience to Him and commit your hands to His work. And as you do, you will be on your way to allowing Him to do what He does. He makes mighty men and women out of regular people.
God bless you, if you’re reading this, you’re being prayed for.
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