Judges 9:56 Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren.
Don’t Stifle, Submit
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Does God ever use ambitious people? Well, what do we mean by ambition? Ambition is “a goal or an aim.” There’s nothing wrong and everything right about having that. Ambition also means “an ardent desire for rank, fame, or power.” So we have to ask ourselves, “Is that what God blesses?” Does God primarily bless our goals to have rank, fame, or power?
In Judges 9 we have the story of Abimelech, one of Gideon’s many sons. Abimelech decided that he wanted to rule the people around him. So, he went to the family of his mother and essentially said, “Look, I’m the one guy in Gideon’s family that is related to you. It would be better for me to rule over you, than to have seventy of Gideon’s sons rule over you.” His mother’s family gave him money with which he hired “vain and light persons, which followed him.” Then, in verse 5, he “went… and slew his brethren… being threescore and ten persons.” He slew every brother he had save the youngest, Jotham.
Abimelech was a very ambitious man, but he was anything but great. Because of his ambition and desire for rank, fame, and power, he pandered to some people, manipulated others, and stepped on many others when he slaughtered his brothers.
The takeaway is that God doesn’t use ambitious people; God uses obedient people. The key is not to stifle your ambitions, but to submit them to God.
Think of all the great people of the Bible. How ambitious were they? Think of Abraham. More than anything he wanted to be the father of a great nation, right? No, that was God’s ambition. Think about Moses. Moses wanted to be the mighty leader of the nation of Israel, right? No, he did not want that, but he obeyed because that was God’s plan and ambition. Think about Esther. From the times she was just a little girl, she wanted to be a powerful queen, right? No, Esther wasn’t ambitious; she was obedient.
I think of some people who had good ambitions like David who wanted to build the temple for God. It was a good ambition, but it wasn’t God’s. God said, “No, you are not going to build it. Your son, Solomon, will build the temple.” Lucifer also had ambition. He said, “I will be like the most high.”
Today, I don’t think we are suffering from too much ambition. I think we are suffering from too little of God’s vision for our lives and too much selfish ambition. Whatever your goals, plans, or ambitions, don’t stifle them. Instead, submit them to the God Who made you, gifted you, and has put you on this planet to glorify Him.