I have no scientific evidence but it is my opinion that more leaders have their health fail or they die from the effects of stress in their life than any other cause. It is proven that stress causes our blood pressure to go up, our heart rate to increase and our muscles to tighten. Dr. Rodney L. Copper in his book Shoulder to Shoulder defines stress as “The response of the sympathetic nervous system to a perceived or actual threat…The technical definition (of stress) won’t mean much to you. Basically it says that stress is the way our body responds to perceived or actual danger…Stress isn’t the cause (of the bodily changes i.e. blood pressure, etc.) but the effect.” Read 1 Samuel 17:24-40 and 18:1-6.

Stress certainly describes what happened to Saul before and after the Goliath incident.” Saul cowered in fear with his men each day when Goliath issued his challenge. Goliath was real and the fear of death at Goliath’s hand was real and that would be enough to cause stress, but Saul felt the extra pressure of being the leader who let fear paralyze him. Later, after David had killed Goliath and the people reacted to David, Saul felt the perceived fear that the people would put David on the throne or that David would forcefully take the throne.

The Bible is very clear that no leader should be involved in leadership for the honor or recognition. My own personal experience has been that many of us took responsibility to lead the first few times seeking recognition but found that very shallow and unfulfilling. The price of leadership is so high that recognition alone doesn’t sustain the motivation needed to lead. Yet, God created the feeling we get from recognition. Read Judges 4.

Israel had been under the iron rule of King Jabin of Canaan who reigned in Hazor. Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army had a powerful force including 900 iron chariots manned by expert, experienced, proven horsemen and soldiers. From all known military understanding, with Israel’s lack of central leadership and the divisions between tribes, and the lack of a standing army, Israel did not have a chance to defeat them.