Satan’s Strategy for Your Life #5: Power, Prestige, & Position

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” 

—Proverbs 16:18

Believers must be on guard against pride. Pride is the first sin and the mother of all others. It is the sin that snared Satan and it is pride that can take down the strongest believer. Paul understood this, which is why he wrote to Timothy that an elder must not be a “recent convert” because "he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil”—1 Timothy 3:6. A recent convert, elevated to a position of authority too quickly, is more susceptible to pride, although every believer needs to be on guard against it. Think about Satan for a moment. He was an archangel of God who through the exercise of his responsibilities in heaven began to think of himself as greater and more exalted than God himself, which led to God casting him out of heaven.

How often Satan comes to us and puffs us up with pride! How often are we like King Nebuchadnezzar who built the majestic Babylon and by his pride said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?"—Daniel 4:30. It was Nebuchadnezzar’s pride that brought forth God’s rebuke,

"O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom He will"—Daniel 4:31-32.

King Nebuchadnezzar became proud and was made like a beast of the field,

“Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers, and his nails were like birds’ claws”—Daniel 4:33.

Nebuchadnezzar remained in that state for “seven periods” (probably seven years) of time (Daniel 4:25) until God eventually restored his faculties and he said,

“…for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and He does according to His will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay His hand or say to Him, ‘What have you done?’”—Daniel 4:34-35.

Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride He is able to humble”—Daniel 4:37.

Nebuchadnezzar’s life illustrated the Proverb, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall”—Proverbs 16:18.

Whenever a believer is exalted to any position of power or prestige, they will soon discover it is a slippery place to be. We may believe that it is by our own power that we have arrived at such a place, or it may be that God has exalted us, but Satan is waiting for the opportunity to push us, making us lose our footing. Many are under our care and others are looking up to us for guidance. Our fall would cause them to despair and God’s name to be put down. We must be on guard against all forms of pride and cling to the knowledge that God is the one who exalts leaders and brings them down, “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?”—1 Corinthians 4:7.

Let us walk circumspectly in the fear of God knowing that He is the one who demonstrated servant leadership rightly. He did not give into the devil’s temptations and did not give into pride. On the contrary, He humbled Himself to the point of death on the cross.

If Satan can puff up leaders with pride then they are all the more ready for a fall. Be on guard, my brother or sister, because Satan wants to bring us down so that God’s name will be discredited. May God’s name be exalted as we continue walking humbly with Him, knowing that it is God who exalts us so that His name may be exalted. Amen.