“Does an ax exalt itself above the one who chops with it?Does a saw magnify itself above the one who saws with it” (Isaiah 10.15)? 

God used Assyria as a tool of judgment and chastening for His people. But Assyria was a proud and arrogant nation. Sennacherib epitomizes this arrogance. As Assyria’s king, he defied God and sought to wipe out Jerusalem. Instead, 185,000 Assyrian soldiers were killed by a destroying angel sent from the LORD. This happened in one night. Later, two of Sennacherib’s sons killed their father while he worshipped his false God. 

We must not think that God isn’t providentially working through world situations. Even the bleakest of situations remind people everywhere to repent – to turn away from sin and to God above. Believers are reminded that these difficult circumstances are something God works together for our good. But this is true in times of great success as well. Success from a worldly, horizontal standpoint isn’t necessarily success from a heavenly, vertical standpoint. True success is that which God gives through Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 15.57). Any worthwhile success redounds to the glory of God. 

Don’t settle for living in the moment today. Dig deeper and think of the eternal value of your thoughts, words, and deeds. If you settle for below things, you are as the ax and saw in this verse – vaunting yourself up against the God who created you. Anything worth doing today must be bathed in a spirit of trusting God. If you meet with what seems like failure, know that God works it together for good. If you meet with what seems like success, the glory belongs to Him. “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15.58).