From Splendor to Shadow

None of Us Is Wiser Than Solomon

Throughout the ages, riches and honor have been attended with peril to humility and spirituality. It is not the empty cup that we have difficulty in carrying; it is the cup full to the brim. Adversity may cause sorrow, but it is prosperity that is most dangerous to spiritual life. In the valley of humiliation, where men depend on God to guide their every step, there is comparative safety. But men who stand, as it were, on a lofty pinnacle and who are supposed to possess great wisdom—these are in gravest peril. SS 30.3

Pride, feeling no need, closes the heart against the infinite blessings of Heaven. He who makes self-glorification his aim will find himself destitute of the grace of God, through whose efficiency the truest riches and the most satisfying joys are won. But he who gives all and does all for Christ will know the fulfillment of the promise, “The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow with it.” Proverbs 10:22. The Saviour banishes from the soul unrest and unholy ambition, changing enmity to love and unbelief to confidence. When He speaks to the soul, saying, “Follow Me,” the spell of the world's enchantment is broken. At the sound of His voice, greed and ambition flee from the heart, and men arise, emancipated, to follow Him. SS 30.4