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Death by Success
by Bill Allison
One is never closer to failure than when succeeding.
 Success
on any level and to any degree tends to subtly seduce us. It has the uncanny
ability to lull us into a dangerous and comfortable complacency. And that's
when we tend to make the always painful and sometimes fatal mistake of
dropping our guard.
That's what happened to David.
In 2 Samuel 8—after years and years of struggling, hard work, and
trusting God—David seems to finally "emerge" as a leader
and king. He began to experience success in depth and breadth. For "the
man after God's own heart," the wind was finally at his back—and
in his sails:
- "The Lord gave David victory wherever he went" (8:6)
- "David became famous after he returned" from a military
conquest (8:11)
- "The Lord gave David victory wherever he went" (8:14)
- "David reigned over all of Israel, doing what was just and right"
(8:15)
And the personal and corporate successes of David continued through chapters
9 and 10 as well. David experienced the sweet taste of success—and
the exhilarating momentum that came with it.
But this amazing God-given success placed David in a very precarious
position. In The Next Generation Leader, Andy Stanley so aptly
warns, "Success is an intoxicant, and intoxicated people seldom have
a firm grasp on reality."
Close on the heels of David's successes comes David's most noted failure.
(His successes and momentum are in 2 Samuel 8-10, and his famous failure
is found in 2 Samuel 11.) Instead of continuing to conquering new frontiers
with his warriors like other kings, David decided to send the troops and
stay at home in his palace (11:1).
He got comfortable.
He dropped his guard a little.
One could argue that he got intoxicated by his success and he lost his
grip on reality.
Through a
series of "small" but very deliberate acts of foolishness,
David ended up having a one-night stand with another man's wife. And in
an effort to cover up his sin (she was pregnant), he made a horrible situation
worse: He killed her husband (one of his very best warriors).
Did he get away with it?
“Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?”
(Proverbs 6:27). No, God, the author and giver of success, took note of
David's unraveling: "...the thing David had done displeased the Lord"
(11:27). Subsequent chapters of 2 Samuel clearly show that God set events
in motion that would trouble David until his death.
Think about this for a moment.
What preceded David's most notorious failure? The answer: Success from
God. Kind of crazy ain't it? It seems the wine of success tends to dupe
the drinker into small—and then monumental—acts of foolishness.
Hence, the result of success is often failure. In other words, David experienced
death by success.
So beware.
When the sweet sunshine of God's success on any level and to any degree
starts smiling its wonderful face on you, beware lest you become ever
so slightly intoxicated and begin to lose your grasp on reality. Yes,
bask in the warm rays of God's success, celebrate, and enjoy. But also
keep a sharp lookout for the smallest sign of unraveling in the little
things in your life. That could be the beginning of your death by success.
As Paul warned the Ephesian elders, "Keep watch over yourselves..."
Acts 20:28.
Why?
For one is never closer to failure than when succeeding.
 Tell
your friends about this issue!
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