HANDLING SUCCESS
Memorise:
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: .. 1 Peter 5:8
Read:
1 Samuel 18:6-15
Message
I discussed handling failure properly yesterday. However, handling failure properly is not the only factor that can affect success in life; there is also the need to learn how to handle success correctly. Many people have eventually failed in life because they did not know how to handle their success.
In 1957, a man won £75, 000 in a lottery. In those days, you could buy a flat in London for a tiny fraction of that sum. One day in the early 1980s, somewhere in Western Nigeria, I saw a man that was wearing rags, sitting beside a building that had collapsed in half. I asked the fellow who was driving me, "Who is that fellow?" He said, "That is the man who won £75, 000 in 1957." The man had great prosperity but did not know how to handle it, so he ended up poor. A popular proverb inspired by Proverbs 21:20 says that a fool and his prosperity are soon separated. If a fellow is not wise enough to handle success, it can turn out to be the beginning of great failure.
Don't get over-excited when success comes. Many people start rejoicing and partying after a victory, forgetting that the devil never relaxes. What actually happens is that the devil becomes more determined to bring such people down. Don't miss prayer meetings or your personal devotion because you are celebrating a victory. Yes, you won the battle, but the enemy is not dead yet; he is still roaming, looking for whom to devour (1 Peter 5:8). You should increase your commitment to God after every victory and not the other way around.
The devil knows that after successes, people are likely to relax, so he usually attacks them during such periods. After David killed Goliath, he raised King Saul up against him. It was after Elijah called down fire from heaven that Jezebel swore to kill him (1 Kings 19:1-3). When you attain success in a particular thing, you must not relax. You must remain alert and ready for battle. Don't let success distract you from the end goal that God has called you to achieve.
One great success we had in RCCG was a programme called 'Lekki 98', where over six million people gathered in one place to worship God. Immediately after that programme, we doubled our missionary efforts, sending missionaries to new territories. We immediately started planning the next edition of the programme, and today, we have held much bigger programmes because we doubled our efforts and did not relax after our success.
Bible In One Year:
Jeremiah 51-52
Hymn:
There Shall Be Showers Of Blessing
Key Point:
When success comes, that is the time to work more, not the time to relax.
There shall be showers of
Showers of blessing,
Showers of blessing we need;
Mercy drops round us are falling.
Bitt for the showers ive plead.