• Home
  • My Story
  • Welcome

God Squad

Helping veterans and military families strengthen their faith.

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« Pray for Canada
Veterans Day Prayer »

Does God Shrink When Success Becomes Normal

October 26, 2014 by John Potter

money

As a nation and as a people we tend to overlook our blessings.  We have abundance, comfort, and wealth like few others.  Our standard of living is so good and so consistent that it becomes common place.  Success becomes normal.  While that sounds like a great problem to have, it can easily compete with or totally eliminate our desire for God.

We forget our beginnings.  We forget the early days of struggle, strife, and bare survival.  We also forget our reliance on God and the vital direction our Lord provided during those tough times in life.

When everything imaginable is working in our favor, it would seem that people should gratefully follow God.  It is often during the times of plenty that we are the worst followers of our faithful King.

While these situations seem contrary, you can even find them in Scripture.  Look at King Solomon in the Old Testament.  The poetic man who sang and wrote of romantic love for his bride also broke records of promiscuity with 700 wives and 300 concubines.  The wise man who composed so many commonsense proverbs, dispensed practical knowledge, and offered successful living advice quickly flouted it all with horrible extravagance and greed.  The devout man who built the temple of God took a final and terrible step of introducing idol worship into God’s holy city to please his foreign-born wives.

Success in the kingdom of this world often crowds out interest in the kingdom of God.

Solomon got whatever he wanted.  Gradually he depended less on God and more on the power, possessions, and people in his kingdom.  Solomon had the world’s largest harem, a house twice the size of the temple, an army full of soldiers, spears, and chariots, and a strong economy.

Success may have eliminated his disappointments with God, but it also seemed to eliminate Solomon’s desire for God.  The more he enjoyed the world’s good gifts, the less he thought about the Giver.

Let us learn the lessons that Solomon did not.  May we always count our blessings.  May we be obedient servants to a Holy and Gracious God.  May we demonstrate our Christian faith in times of joy and abundance.  May we enjoy the gift and praise the Giver.  May we always place God first and remember that I am second, no matter what level of worldly success I may find.

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posted in Christian Living, News & Commentary | Tagged chaplain, christian, desire for God, King Solomon, pastor, success, thanksgiving |

  • Latest Tweets

    • It's #NationalSpousesDay and I want to honor my incredible wife who has supported me for 20 years and 4 deployments… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 1 week ago
    • I enjoyed the National Guard Bureau Joint Chaplain symposium this week. It was great to collaborate with my fellow… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 2 weeks ago
    • Enjoyed the Evans Family Christmas Light display tonight. Thanks for the show little drummer boy! #Christmas… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 1 month ago
    • Time to say it again. #Army #ArmyNavy #ArmyNavygame https://t.co/JlscajIvkJ 1 month ago
    Follow @ksquaker
  • Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

  • Categories

    • Book Reviews
    • Christian Living
    • Devotions
    • Humor
    • Military Family
    • Military Marriages
    • News & Commentary
    • Spiritual Practices
    • Suicide Prevention
    • Uncategorized
    • Veteran Resources
    • Worship
  • Permissions

    This is a personal website. Statements and articles found here may not reflect official policies from the Department of Defense. The writings on this site are original unless noted. Feel free to share my columns, articles, and stories as long as you note the author and this site.
  • TheHighCalling.org Christian Blog Network 
  • Religion & Spirituality Blogs - BlogCatalog Blog Directory
  • Christian Bloggers
    Powered By Ringsurf
  • best blog sites

Blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.


Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • God Squad
    • Join 125 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • God Squad
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Copy shortlink
    • Report this content
    • View post in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: