Success.....

Deuteronomy 32:15 KJV:
But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

There are many issues we face in life daily that require strength and patience to overcome. Somehow, as we endure under the weight of the trials we face, we become stronger and better as individuals, able to help others overcome their own challenges too.
But there is an area of life that comes with many hazards and it is in the area of success or prosperity. Many of us have handled the loss of a loved one well, many have lost jobs and contracts and still stayed true to the faith, knowing that somehow, God was able to raise them up again. But if there's a pit that has destroyed the testimony of many people, it is in their handling of 'success'.
Somehow, we bear up under adversity, telling ourselves that it is only for a while. We wait for years for God to give us a breakthrough in an area of life and we can be very patient as we wait. We can trust God for the provision of certain things and we have to wait for the passage of time before these things come. We pray for success and prosperity atimes, and we wonder why God does not seem to answer. I believe that God himself knows the dangers success without him can bring. We seek God for prosperity and then kick God out when prosperity comes. We fast and pray for prosperity and breakthrough and then we consume the fruits of God's prosperity as if we were the ones who brought them about by our own power. We live by faith before wealth comes and when there's breakthrough, we want to work out the rest by our own wisdom and power, forgetting that there's nothing we can do or be outside of God.
Jeshurun in our passage above started well. He was picked out of the howling wastes of the desert, without God and without hope. He was helped by God every step of the way. Provisions for his needs were met out of places he had no investments in. In fact, there were provisions from places that had no business supplying such things in the first place. How do you explain water from a rock, or manna for 40 continuous years? The bible testified that God alone led him; no foreign god was with him. That was before success came.
Suddenly, Jeshurun looked at himself and loved what he saw. He suddenly realizes that he had arrived. He had forgotten thd journey,the experiences and the destination God had in mind;  he could only see the present. That is a danger we must avoid. Whatever God gives us and does for us is only a small bit of his big plan. His destination is heaven, every other thing he does is a step towards our eventual arrival. We must never forget that.
Anything God would give us that will deny us heaven will surely not be given to us. We must watch our hearts and lives closely, so that God's 'blessings' do not become stumbling blocks to our safe arrival in heaven.
Never forget God; without him, success is not possible and outside of him, prosperity is always temporary. With Him, heaven is the ultimate. His blessings and success are the benefits. His time of favour is here.