Lesson about success

I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home in my palace, contented and prosperous. -Daniel 4:4

Okay, stop right here. This really makes me mad. King Nebucadnezzar, the evil one, sitting in his palace contented and prosperous. Not bothered by the outside world. Not enough compassion to be concerned about the abuses happening in his kingdom. He just sits in his palace, rich and happy, after all the destruction he's caused. And this is the first lesson about success, and it may go against everything you think you know about God.

God sometimes grants success to people who don’t follow Him.

This story in particular is about Nebucadnezzar, and we know he wasn’t a nice man. I mean the book of Daniel tells a little about him, but to really know the King’s whole story, you have to go to 2 Chronicles.

He (God) brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and spared neither young man nor young woman, old man or aged. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar. He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the LORD's temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. They set fire to God's temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there.
He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power. -2 Chronicles 36:17-21

So, here’s a guy that raided the city of Jerusalem. He killed everyone he could, enslaved those he couldn’t. He took all their stuff and carried it off to Babylon- their gold, their livestock, everything of value, and burned the rest of the city. This man, this ancient-day Hitler, is sitting in his place, content and prosperous. And look at verse 17 again: He, God, delivered this into the hands of Nebucadnezzar. See, I don’t understand why, but God sometimes gives success to people who don’t follow him, so what does that mean for you and me. Well, consider this. Maybe just because you’re having success as the world sees it doesn’t mean you’re following God’s will. This is huge!

I mean, I hear this a lot- God is really blessing this area of my life. I’m so glad I took that new job because, even though I’m away from my family a lot more, I’m making a lot more money, so God is really blessing that. Or, my husband and I are separated, but I’ve met this new guy, and he’s a believer, and I just know God wants me to end my marriage and go with him because this relationship is so much better than the one I have with my husband, so I know it’s God’s will. Or, yeah, I know I violate my principals sometimes when I hang out with those friends, but they really like me when I’m with them, and God wants me to be happy, right?

Well, I can’t tell you God’s will for your life, but let me tell you what I know about God’s will. God will never ever will for your life something that violates His word that he’s given us. If your understanding of God's will is different in anyway from what the bible says, who's more likely to be wrong? So, if you think God’s will is to be away from your family more just for more money, or to leave your husband or leave your wife for someone who understands you better, or to sin so you can be accepted by some so-called friends, I tell you that you are buying the world’s definition of success instead of God's.