Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living | Since no man knows the future, who can tell him what is to come?  No man has power over the wind to contain it; so no one has the power over the day of his death…  Ecclesiastes 8:7-8

Overconfidence can be your most deadly enemy!  So learned a young man who once stood guard on the walls of ancient Pergamos when an enemy force laid siege to the city.  What you don’t know is that the wall of the ancient city was almost impregnable.  I use the word almost because nothing is absolutely impenetrable.

For months enemy forces laid siege to the city and gave it their best hits, but they could neither scale the wall nor tunnel through it.  They watched and waited.  Standing duty, however, was a young soldier who dropped his expensive helmet over the side.  He looked carefully assuming that no one was watching. Then he slipped over the side of the wall, retrieved his helmet, and finished his watch.

An enemy soldier, however, saw the lad as he used the secret handholds and made his way down the face of the wall to get his helmet.  It was the break-through the enemy had been hoping for.  Excitedly he told his officers what he had seen, and then under the darkness of night, the enemy force came up the wall, surprised the guards, and overthrew the city.

“But I didn’t think anyone was watching,” you may think.  That’s what Prince Charles once told the press when his picture, taken in the buff as he changed out of his swimsuit, appeared on the front page of newspapers.

The only way you can be absolutely certain that nobody is watching is to do nothing that you wouldn’t want the enemy to see.  Overconfidence–whether it is in business, in warfare, in love, or in your spiritual life–is the prelude to disaster.

Can we learn from the disasters and failures of others?  Apparently, Paul thought we could.  When he wrote to the Corinthians, he made a point of describing Israel’s failure.  Then he said, “Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did” (1 Corinthians 10:6).  He continued this line of thinking, saying, “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.  So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall.  No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.   And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, he will provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Corinthians 10:11-13).

That’s good news, friend!  I not only can learn from the mistakes of others; I can also find God’s strength to overcome my human weakness.  Did you catch that phrase, “God is faithful”?  And what does that mean in relationship to your life?

Nothing is more dangerous than presumption.  Nothing is more fatal than to assume you can handle anything, that you are impervious to the forces which cause others to collapse, that you are strong enough you need no help.

The most successful men and women are always those who have learned their own weaknesses and have been able to lean upon others who had strengths they did not possess.  But most important of all, they learned to lean upon the strong arm of the Almighty, who knows neither weariness nor difficulty.

“I can’t do it, but God can!”  Have you come to understand that great truth?  Read the Psalms and notice the phrases, “The Lord is my strength” and “The Lord is my helper” or “My high tower or fortress.”

He is strongest who most understands how weak he really is and knows where his strength really comes from.  Think about it.

Resource reading: Ecclesiastes 8:1-8