Kenneth L. Samuel: Can You Stand Success?
"May the Lord grant all your requests." - Psalm 20:5
There is a certain discipline that guides us through our struggles in life.
Disciplines of study mark the student in pursuit of a degree. Disciplines of romance and affection guide the paramour in pursuit of a partner. Disciplines of practice and performance direct the athlete in pursuit of a championship.
But what happens when we achieve our goals and accomplish our aims? What happens when our days of struggle give way to days of triumph? What happens when Lent relents to Resurrection?
The truth is that we often handle our struggles much better than we handle our successes.
We know how to respect the quest for knowledge while we're in school, but can we accumulate advanced degrees and still be cognizant of how much we don't know?
We know how to make it from place to place without luxury cars, but can we cruise in the utmost comfort and still remember to walk humbly before our God?
We know how to impress and win potential partners with displays of kindness and affection, but can we consummate a relationship and still remain attentive and courteous to the person most familiar to us?
We know how to struggle to get to the top, but can we arrive at the summit and still look beyond the hills to the Lord from whence cometh our help?
A preacher once told me that God would bring me to a place in life where my fiercest detractors would not be able to harm me. "But when you arrive at that place, be very careful," he said. "Because in that place, you will have no one to blame for your failures but yourself."
Prayer
Lord, help us to succeed successfully.
Small Group Discussion
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