The Word of God rules supreme in successful believers' lives. They obey it without question.
There was such a man in 19th century America. His name was Peter Cartwright, and he obeyed God's Word without question. His story inspires me.
Peter Cartwright was a circuit-riding preacher. That means he traveled from town to town preaching in little country churches. One of his strongly held Methodist beliefs was that dancing is a terrible sin.
One day Peter preached in a certain town that was notorious for its big saloon (it was called an inn in those days). Peter didn't like saloons at all, for not only did he preach against dancing; he also preached a strong message against alcohol and its evils. Usually, he'd refuse to spend the night in any saloon if rooms were available elsewhere. But this night, there were no other rooms in town, so Peter had to rent a room in the inn.
As Peter was getting settled into his room, a big dance got under way downstairs in the hall. Peter could hear the people below him milling about.
Peter Cartwright loved all people—lost or saved. Although he could have stayed in his room and prayed, he was supernaturally drawn to the people. Love compelled him to reach out to them.
Peter walked downstairs and watched the people dance. The Spirit of the Lord spoke to him, saying, "Peter, go over and dance with that young lady."
Peter almost fainted. He replied, "Lord, that's unthinkable! You know I can't do that! That's sin!" Peter knew he was right in thinking that dancing was sin. But again the Lord spoke to him: "Go over and dance with that young lady." Even though Peter was fully convinced in his heart that it would be sin for him to do that, he obeyed God.
He walked to the middle of the dance floor and asked the young lady to dance. She smiled at him and accepted. He quickly added, "First, there's something I must tell you. I have this habit. Before I do anything, I pray." With that, he dropped to his knees right there in front of her, surrounded by all those other couples dancing around them. He prayed fervently—and went on praying and praying and praying.
Suddenly Peter's partner was slain in the Spirit. Peter kept right on praying. Then he heard "ker-plop, ker-plop" all around him. He looked up. Couples were falling under the power of God all around him. Not one person was left standing. Everyone, including all the musicians, was slain by the Spirit of God.
Peter got up off his knees and began to preach. No one could get off the floor. They had no choice but to listen to him!
You may think this story sounds far-fetched. It is recorded in history. It happened. Every person in that inn was born again that day!
Why? Because one man dared to be obedient to the voice of God, no matter what the cost; no matter what the circumstances dictated; no matter what his head said; no matter what anyone else said of him. Peter Cartwright chose to obey God.
Whatever God tells you to do He can perform, whether it agrees with what you've been taught or not. Just obey Him.
Peter Cartwright's testimony of obedience to God is a success story. Successful Christians build their lives on the sure foundation and obey God's written and spoken Word.
Meditate in God's Word day and night and you, too, shall have "good success."
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