Open Heaven 20 August 2024: Handling Success
MEMORISE: 1 Peter 5:8
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”
READ: 1 Samuel 18:6-15 (KJV)
6 And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick.
7 And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.
8 And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased* him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom?
9 And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.
10 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand.
11 And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice.
12 And Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul.
13 Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.
14 And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD was with him.
15 Wherefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him.
Read Yesterday’s Open Heaven Devotional Here
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.
KEY POINT:
When success comes, that is the time to work more, not the time to relax.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Jeremiah 51-52
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Open Heaven 20 August 2024
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