Too often today we hear news stories about a prominent Church Leader who has been caught in this scandal or exposed for that discretion and I always find myself thinking, “How could that happen”? How could this man so confidently position to work for our Lord fall so far, so fast? I can’t be certain but I would have to make some assumptions and at the top of the list would be pride. C.S. Lewis once said “A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you're looking down, you can't see something that's above you”.
David was gazing down upon his kingdom when his eye fell on Bathsheba. Nebuchadnezzar was walking along the palace wall looking down on the city he had built when God stuck him down to live as beast for seven years. And all those well known Evangelical Leaders who fell so far forgot the same words of advice God gave Saul.
Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
1 Samuel 12:24
Saul had only recently been accepted fully as King by the nation of Israel after his defeat of the Ammonites. In the eyes of the nation of Israel, Saul could do no wrong. But Samuel gave him the Word of the Lord in the passage above, letting him know to never forget.
·Serve Me, not yourself.
·Never forget that you were looking for a herd of lost donkey’s when I chose you to be king.
·Never forget that the nation of Israel are My people, not yours.
·Never forget to keep the statues and commands that I gave you.
·Never forget that everything you have, you have because I gave it to you.
Not too long after those great words of wisdom were given to Saul he started his downward spiral by being too impatient to wait for Samuel to show up and perform the needed sacrifice to the Lord. So Saul went outside the Lords direction and decided he would just do the sacrifice to God on his terms, his way. And why? Because he was hungry and wanted to eat.
And when I take that all in I see those great Christian Leaders have fallen because they allowed themselves to reach a point in life where the indwelling of the Holy Spirit was taken for granted. I believe that after a certain amount of consideration and praise they began to look at their Ministry as a creation of their doing and not the work of the Lord. Seeking God’s will for their life and their Ministry and begin to be superseded by them seeking the trappings of the elevated position in their mind. In essence, like Saul, they started to consider their station in life on their own instead of prayerfully seeking the counsel of God.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and do not lean on your own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5
We have some great examples to learn from in the bible so we can avoid the same mistakes and find a better way to navigate the world. We can’t learn from those examples if we don’t dedicate a significant portion of our lives to knowing and learning God’s Word. And we’re not going to find the ultimate place that God would have us without talking to Him about and trying to figure it out on our own.
Look to the Lord in all things and recognize His provision in everything you have, the good and the bad. The good things are a blessing and wonderful but we must embrace the things we see as difficulties and challenges. Jewelry is polished by progressively finer grades of sandpaper. The really rough stuff comes out first then the smoother grades create the polish. Whatever difficulty you may be facing, it’s just God preparing you for the final polish, fellowship with Him!
Be blessed!
Jeff
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