When God Tests You with Success — Part 1

This is Pastor Rick's daily hope. I'm so glad that you found us today. And whether you're at home or in your car, we're so glad that you're here. And we pray that God will give you hope in times of difficulty. Rick is taking us through the Book of Daniel, and that's so we'll be equipped to handle whatever curveball life throws at us, even the most difficult trials. And now Rick with part one of a message called when God tests you with success.

Past few weeks we've been in a series about passing the 10 common tests of life. And they're all covered in the book of Daniel. And in the book of Daniel we have all 10 of these tests. Eight of them are tests that Daniel himself had to go through, one of them his friends go through, and one of them, the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, has to go through, which we're gonna look at today. Now, I've said in each of these sessions that before there is blessing, there is always a testing. Before every blessing, there is always a testing. God wants to see if you can handle what he's about to give you. Greater responsibility, greater blessing, greater success or prosperity or spiritual experiences, greater influence. God wants to know, can you handle what you've already got before he gives you even more. And God tests you with stress before he trusts you with success. We've talked about this every single week. God wants to see if you can handle it. Jesus explained this principle actually in Luke 16. Look up here on the screen. Jesus said this. You must be proven trustworthy in small things before you'll be trusted with greater things. That's before every blessing there is a testing. And if you have not been faithful with what is not your own, who's gonna trust you to give you your own? Before God trusts you with success, he tests you with stress. Now, so far in this series we've looked at five tests. Let's put em all up here on the board and see where we've been. We looked at first, when your world is shaken up, that means the test of a major change. We've looked at when you're pressured to conform. Peer pressure is a test in your life. We've looked at when your beliefs are belittled. And remember we talked to the students particularly about that, about at school. We talked about when you're asked to do the impossible. When a boss or somebody in your life says, I need you to do this, you go, I don't have the time or the money to do this. That's a test. When you're asked to do the impossible. And then we looked at when the heat is on, and we talked about the young men going through the fiery furnace because they refused to bow down to the statue of Nebuchadnezzar. Now, the next five weeks, let me show you where we're going. Okay, here's some of the other tests you're gonna see. We're gonna look at when you need to have a difficult conversation. You probably need to know how to do that. When you have to share a hard truth with somebody you love or is in your life, when you need to have a difficult conversation, then the next one. When people work against you at work, at school, or somewhere else like that, you maybe even feel like they're plotting against you. We're gonna look at that test. When your situation looks hopeless, we're gonna look at. That is a test. In life, God often allows things to get so bad it looks hopeless. And then when the answer to your prayer is delayed, that's one everybody needs. You need to know the skill of how to handle a delayed answer to prayer. That is a test. This is a test. But this weekend, we're gonna look at this one. When God tests you with success, you say, wait a minute. I know stress is a test. I know suffering is a test. But success is a test. Of course it's a test. Have you ever seen success ruin anybody? Oh, of course you have. It goes to their head. They get stuck up. They get. It changes their character. They crack up. They can't handle it. Success has ruined a lot of people. In fact, VH1 built an entire channel of biographies of rock groups that cracked up, messed up, broke up once they got successful. Success is as much of a test in your life as suffering is. In fact, I will tell you as a pastor and having worked with people now for over 40 years, more people are ruined by success than they are ruined by suffering. You might not think it, but when you're in suffering, you go straight to God. But when you're successful, you forget God. And for every you know nine people who can handle pain, you can't find one person who can handle fame. And the praise goes to their head. The Bible talks about this on the screen. Proverbs 27, 21 says this. A hot furnace tests silver and gold, but people are tested. Read this with me aloud. By the praise they receive. Well, did you know that every time you're complimented, this is a test I tell pastors. Compliments and criticisms are kind of like Chewing gum. You chew on it a little while, but you never swallow it because both of them can really mess you up. He says people are tested by the praise they receive. Human beings are the only animal that God created that, that when you pat them on the back, their head swells. So we want to talk about the danger of pride and arrogance and ego when you're successful because it's easy to forget God. This is just as much a test as all the tough times you go through. And it's one that we often don't understand. But Daniel chapter four tells us how King Nebuchadnezzar that we've been looking at for several weeks now, literally lost everything because of his pride, his arrogance and his ego. Now let's just review. Nebuchadnezzar is the most successful man on planet Earth at this time, 2,500 years ago. His father had been the king of Babylon. He was a young general in his dad's army and he single handedly defeated the Assyrian empire, which was the most powerful empire of its day. And, and now all of a sudden the Babylonian empire is bigger than the Assyrian empire because of this young man. He comes home the conquering general and he is a rock star. And at a very early age he's very, very successful. And when his dad dies, he succeeds his dad, he becomes the emperor of Babylon. Then he expands the Babylonian empire until it becomes the most powerful empire in the world of that day. Everybody feared Nebuchadnezzar. And then not only that, he built the most beautiful city in the world in that day. It's called Babylon. And he built what were called the Hanging Gardens of Babylon for his wife, which were called one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Just like the pyramids, I mean it was of that quality. People wanted to just go to Babylon to see the thing that he had built. And as I said, he became the most powerful man on earth. But Nebuchadnezzar had a problem and it was his pride, it was his ego he had. You know, some people have a problem with anger their entire lives. He had a problem with pride, with arrogance, his entire life, cause he had one success after another. Now this story, chapter four picks up when he's in his 50s. So he's already well into his leadership as the emperor is a very powerful man. And one night he has a very disturbing dream. Now this is 32 years after that previous dream that we looked at he couldn't interpret, which he called in a guy named Daniel to interpret. And so 32 years later, he calls Daniel back and goes, hey, man, I got another weird dream. Can you tell me what it means? And Daniel tells him he's sad to be the bearer of bad news. But he says, well, King, what this means? Is this the dream you've just had? It means that God is fed up with your arrogance. He's fed up with your pride, with your ego. You would have nothing if it weren't for God. Everything you've got in life, it's because God allowed you to have it. And if God didn't want you to have it, you might be homeless on the street, but you've taken all the credit for yourself. And you should have known better, Nebuchadnezzar. Because God's shown you a bunch of miracles since the Jews have been here. Remember the one where, you know, by the way, he built this 90 foot statue to himself? Remember we talked about that? That's an ego problem. When you say, hey, I'm gonna build a 90 foot statue. And every time they blow the horns, you bow down and worship me. He thought he was God. And then how God saved the three young men, the Hebrew men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and said, you went through the fire. And he said, you saw that miracle and you proclaimed at the end of that there's only one true God. And you made this public declaration that God is God and not you. But then you forgot it, and you didn't follow up on that public commitment. And for the last 30 years, you. You haven't served God. You've been serving yourself. And so your time is about up. Because God gave you all of these chances, and because you haven't humbled yourself and you haven't depended on God, God is gonna remove you as the king of the greatest empire in the world for a season of time. And he says, not only are you gonna lose your kingdom, sir, you're gonna lose your mind. You're gonna actually lose touch with reality. You're gonna go insane. So much so that you're gonna be kicked out of the palace. You're gonna go live in the desert like an animal. Your hair's gonna get all matted because nobody's gonna care for you. Your fingernails are gonna grow out so long they look like claws. And he said, you're gonna live like an animal because you truly will actually lose your sanity. Daniel then says, but here's the good news, King, you can avoid it all. You don't have to go through this humiliating experience if you will humble yourself and if you will listen to God, and if you'll just start honoring God with your success. Get this phrase, if you'll start honoring God with your success, you can avoid the fall. Now, unfortunately, the king did nothing about this. He had the dream, he gets the interpretation, and he immediately forgets it. And he goes on his way, still living the ego trip, still being. It's all about himself. He procrastinates, doing the right thing. He does nothing to humble himself, and he forgets the whole incident. And so he lost everything he had, worked for the most powerful man, influential man in the world, ended up being homeless and insane, out on the streets, out in the desert. But Daniel says, if you'll start honoring God, you'll avoid it all. But he didn't. So he fails the test of success. Now, let me just say this to you. You can be expected to be tested in your success. Whatever level of success you have in life, God will test you. If you pass the test, you get more. If you don't, you get less. Jesus said it. It's taught all the way through Scripture. I don't want this to happen to you. So what I want us to do this weekend is look at this story 2,500 years old. You can read about it in archeology. This happened. And I wanna just simply ask three questions. Number one, what gets people into trouble when they start succeeding in life? Cause I see successful people falling by the wayside all the time. Financially, relationally, mentally, socially, spiritually. What gets us trapped and what causes us to get into trouble when we succeed? Number two, I wanna ask, what are the steps to recovery after you've failed? Because what Nebuchadnezzar did, you need to do, too, if this ever happens to you. And number three, what are the things that I need to remember about God that will stabilize me whether I'm going through success or through suffering? And Nebuchadnezzar learns four things, and you need to learn them. You need to memorize them, so that whether you're in good times or bad times, these things will stabilize your life. Now, you've heard people say it's wise to learn from experience, but you don't have enough time to make all the mistakes yourself. It's wise to learn from experience. It's wiser to learn from the experiences of others. That's why we have this book. It's a lot less painful, too. Now, you know, when we teach Bible study methods, we talk about those nine questions to ask about every verse we Call them space pets. Is there a sin to confess? A promise to claim? Is there an error to avoid? An attitude to change? Is there a command to obey? Example to follow? A prayer to pray? Truth to believe? Something to thank God for? This message is about an an error to avoid. Let's start by looking at what gets us into trouble when we're succeeding in life. There are three causes of Nebuchadnezzar's fall and his breakdown. You might write these down. Number one, we get into trouble because, number one, we get comfortable and complacent with success. We get comfortable and complacent. Now this happens to all of us. When things are going good, you just get complacent. Daniel, chapter four, verse four. I, Nebuchadnezzar, was enjoying a time of peace and prosperity in my kingdom and palace, and I was taking it easy without a care in the world. Does that sound like somebody who's praying every day? No. Let me ask you a personal question. Do you pray more in pain or pleasure? Oh, there's no doubt when you do, you. You pay more when you're in pain. When you're in pain. Oh, God, I need your help right now. When things are going great. Hey, let's go to the beach. You're not even thinking about God when things are going good in your life. And so it's pleasure that pulls us away. It's the good times when pride creeps in that we forget God. I want you to notice all the personal pronouns in this next statement of Nebuchadnezzar. He said. I said to myself, just look. Notice the I's and the me and the mys. I said to myself, okay, you ever talk to yourself? Oh, you do it all the time. I said to myself, just look at this great city of Babylon that I have created. I, by my own mighty power have built this beautiful city for my glory. I built it to show my power, my. My might, my majesty and my glory. Wow, that's quite humble, isn't it? This is a problem right here. Remember the lesson of the whale. When you get to the top and you're ready to blow, that's when they harpoon you. Be humble or you will stumble. Nehemiah needed to go read chapter one of of Purpose Driven Life. The first line. It's not about you. No, it's all about God, he thought. It's all about Himself. Now, throughout the Bible, we're warned constantly about the dangers of pride. The middle letter of pride is what I. The middle letter sin is what pride Causes sin. Pride is the root of all sin, no matter what the sin is. I know God says, don't gossip, but I think I know better than God, so I will gossip. I know I'm supposed to forgive that person, but I know better. So I. Pride is the renewed. I know what God says about sex, but I'm gonna do my thing. I know what God says about money, but I'm gonna do my thing. I know what God says about pride is the root of every other sin. Pride is the sin that got Satan kicked out of heaven. God hates pride more than anything else in life. Cause it says I'm God and I don't need God. The Bible says pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. And Nebuchadnezzar had a major fall in his life. Look at this verse on the screen. Proverbs 16, verse 5. The Lord despises pride. That means he hates it. You can be sure that the proud will be punished. There are many, many verses in the Bible. The Bible says God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. Grace is the power you need to change. If you need to change something in your life, you need to be humble. God, resist the proud. That means whenever I'm prideful, I'm on the opposite side of God and my arms are too short to box with God. He's gonna win every time. God hates pride. But we get comfortable and complacent with success. Second thing is, we don't pay attention to the warning signs. Now, often in your own life, when things are going good, you don't see the warning signs. But in every success are the seeds of your own destruction. But often the signs are not seen because pride blinds us. You know, I teach pastors and I tell pastors all the time, always being in the spotlight blinds you. And that's true in any area of life. Right now, in this stage, there are, I don't know, several hundred thousand watts sitting on me. It's kind of blinding. If you're in the spotlight all of the time, you can't see clearly. And so it's not good for your soul. That's why I tell pastor, you need to go home and mow your own lawn and change the diapers and do some laundry and wash the dishes and do the stuff that real people do and do everything. Like, you just need to keep in touch with your roots. We don't pay attention to the warning signs. Now, God clearly warned Nebuchadnezzar. He didn't just remove him from office. God cared enough about this king to warn him. He gives him a dream. He brings Daniel to interpret the dream. Daniel says, this is gonna happen, and you can avoid it. You can avoid this massive fall in your career, this embarrassing experience, if you'll just humble yourself, honor God. Stop forgetting God. Do the right thing. And so God said, I'm gonna warn you in advance. You're about to lose your kingdom and you're about to lose your sanity. You question, what are the warning signs in your life when you're headed in the wrong direction? Do you even know what they are? Do you know what the warning signs are in your life? That you've kind of gotten off track, that you're getting a little prideful, that you're forgetting God? Do you even know what those signs are? Conflict could be a warning sign. If you're having conflict in a relationship, that's a sign you're on the wrong track. Chaos in your life can be a warning sign.

Confusion.

I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing right now. That's a warning sign. You're not as well connected to God as you ought to be. You're doing it on your own power. Like, if it's to be, it's up to me. Temptation can be a warning sign. I'm just being tempted at work, at school, with someone or something. That's a warning sign. And God warned Nebuchadnezzar, you're gonna lose it all, buddy. You're very successful. You're the most powerful, influential, successful guy in the world. But you're gonna lose it all if you don't change quickly. And Daniel tells the king that he needs to do two things. Now pay attention to this verse 27. Here's what you do to avoid the humiliating experience. Two things. Repent of your sins and start doing right. Then number two, begin to show merciful kindness to the poor and oppressed. Then God will allow you to keep prospering.

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