The Downside of Success

Amy Winehouse who died in 2011 of alcohol poisoning

“Hear the word of the LORD Almighty:  The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD.” Isaiah 39:5-7.

Have you noticed how some seemingly successful people engage in self destructive behavior? People like Amy Winehouse, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston and countless others were brought down by drug addiction and depression. Apparently they did not feel happy and fulfilled in their phenomenal success.  It is lonely at the top. Many successful people lose their identity by becoming exceptional and therefore unable to relate to others at the same level. People have very high expectations from them and they have few if any genuine friends that are not looking for “a piece of the pie.”  Others are continually monitoring them and glorying in their every mistake and fall. There are also many temptations open to successful people. Success can draw people to many vices. Another problem with success is the “diva mentality”. Many successful people are very arrogant and feel entitled to be treated in special ways. Many of them also feel invincible and break many ethical and civil laws with impunity.

King Hezekiah was a godly, prayerful man.  After his great efforts to turn his people to the Lord, God affected a miraculous victory against his Assyrian enemies and gave him an extra fifteen years to live in this world. However instead of continuing with his humility, gratitude and attention to God, Hezekiah became proud during the bonus years of his life. He started glorifying in his wealth and omitted to teach the goodness of the Lord to his family.  After he had showed off all the gold, silver and other treasures he had to envoys from Babylon, Isaiah the prophet said to him, “Hear the word of the LORD Almighty:  The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD.” Isaiah 39:5-7.

What you have been blessed with is the Lord’s treasure: your talent, your wealth, your all. You are called upon to be a good steward and use it for God’s Glory, or it “will be carried away to Babylon”

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"Do not value money for any more nor any less than its worth; it is a good servant but a bad master." ~Alexandre Dumas

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