No one wants enemies. But whether we want them or not we all have them. How are enemies created? Where do they come from? Certainly you can choose a path of competition and rivalry that creates enemies/competitors of nearly everyone on a regular basis. But even if you normally take a team player approach to life and seek the best of the others around you, enemies form who see you as an opposing force that must be beaten, defeated, or at bare minimum set in your “proper place” behind or beneath them.
Some enemies feel they can do what you do better and are out to prove it. Some enemies are simply jealous of whatever benefits they see in your life. Some enemies are looking for a shortcut to what you have and see taking you out as the best route to achieve it. Some enemies have a sense of duty to protect something they see you wrongly handling. Whether they have any authority over what you are leading or not they feel a sense of duty to depose your leadership.
Leadership (stewarding your responsibilities) is not for wimps. To lead well is to move a team forward. Other would be rivals who would wish to do things differently are natural byproducts of leadership.
In the verse above, the path of pleasing the Lord leads to protection and peace from enemies. Pleasing the Lord should become priority one for leaders in particular who more readily produce rivals and opposition by the nature of their position. So what “ways” are pleasing to the Lord?
Hebrews 11:6 tells us that it is impossible to please God without faith. Faith is believing/trusting to the point that I obey/act. I have faith in Jesus when I trust Jesus enough to do life his way: serving others, forgiving others, sacrificial love for others, honesty, submission to authority, and being aggressive to do my neighbor good. God is pleased with these ways of living. Then God makes even your enemies live at peace with you.
Do the enemies go away? No. Lead well (pleasing God) anyway and allow God room to handle the peace.
