We are taught that we are what we make of ourselves. We control our own destiny, and if we fail at life, we are the ones at fault. In the same manner of speaking, if we achieve great success, it is our right to stand and crow, to proclaim our magnificence to the world, for we alone deserve all the praise.
Harrumph! Turn to Daniel 11:1-45. The passage is quite long, so let’s look to the beginning and the end as an introduction to its contents.
Verse 1: “And as for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to confirm and strengthen him.”
Verse 45: “And he shall pitch his palatial tents between the sea and the glorious holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end, with none to help him.”
These two passages illustrate the essence of God. He is the beginning and the end, and all that comes in the middle is at the mercy of his powerful hand. When God points, all creation looks that way. When God brushes aside something in his creation, it is already gone. When God presses his imprint on a man, or on a nation, or on an idea, it changes to be what God wants it to be.
Between Verse 1 and Verse 45, the world is changed. Scofield tells us the tale of Alexander, the greatest king of antiquity, and his decisive victories that united the known world into one mighty kingdom. Then Alexander died at only 32, still a young man and at the height of his glory. His kingdom was divided among his generals, and the Wars of the Successors ravished the ancient world for a half-century.
Genesis 1:1 tells us who is really in control.
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
Man played no part in the beginnings of our universe. Rather, all glory goes to the Father in heaven.
Romans 6:23 tells us how we can find success in life.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
If we try to achieve success on our own, we will face Alexander’s fate, for we are at the whim of God, the one who controls every minutiae of the material world we inhabit.
Revelation 4:11 sums up the reason why we worship the King of Creation, our Father God.
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
So, should we sit back and wait for God to make of us something great and glorious? We are fools if we do so. Yet, when we reach the pinnacle of what we can achieve, we are wise to realize we have achieved our success by the hand of our Father, the greatest king of them all. For, in his wisdom, he can bring us low as easily as he has raised us up.
Every success is God’s success, no matter the part we play in it.
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Code: FGO.I.21.14.vp