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STORIES THEY NEVER TAUGHT YOU IN KINDERGARTEN #1
WHAT IS SUCCESS?
I love the story of Eleazar, Adino and Shammah; don't you? It’s a classic tale about success. Ah, now that’s an illusive concept, isn’t it? After all, what is success? John Maxwell suggests that few people understand success, let alone achieve it. But what is it? To find the answer, type the word “success” into a search engine on the computer. I’m told that you’ll get 7.8 million hits. Sorry, I didn’t get a chance to read all the web pages for you. But suffice it to say there are a lot of opinions on the topic.
Some people speak of success in terms of a position. They think: When I am promoted to CEO or if I am Valedictorian of my class then I’ll be a success.
Is that it? Or is there more to success than achieving some position? That’s why I love the story of Eleazar, Adino and Shammah. These men give us perspective on a tricky topic.
There are others who equate performance with success. Anyone who can swing like Tiger or sing like Celine or shoot like Shaquille is a slam dunk for success, right? Or not? See, that’s where the story of Eleazar, Adino and Shammah brings clarity. Don’t you love that story?
Others assume that prominence equals success. President Bush, Martha Steward, Paris Hilton—if you’re as famous as these superstars, you are a success, right? Or maybe not.
What is success? The answer is hidden in the story of Eleazar, Adino and Shammah. Don’t you love that story?
It was Thomas Jefferson who suggested that success is the individualistic pursuit of happiness, which, when you think about it is the antithesis of what Jesus taught when He suggested that success is not the pursuit of happiness for oneself, rather it is the pursuit of happiness for others.
E. Stanley Jones once said: “The most miserable people in the world are self-centered. People who don't do anything for anybody except themselves. They are centers of misery without exception. On the contrary, the happiest people are the people who deliberately take on themselves the sorrows and troubles of somebody else. Their hearts sing with a strange wild joy, automatically and with no exceptions.”
I suspect he’s right. The happiest and most successful people are those who invest their lives in serving others. In the end, success is not a goal to be achieved, but the inevitable joy in a journey of serving others.
That’s, of course, what we see in the story of Eleazar, Adino and Shammah. Don’t you love that story? Or do you know the story? It’s not one of those stories in the Kindergarten curriculum, but it is a story worth remembering.
Are you ready to hear the story?
It is late in the evening. David is far away from home. He is lonely. His beard is lathered with sweat. It has been a blistering day of battle. The Philistines occupy his home. They are drinking the water from his well in Bethlehem. David slumps over a rock and exclaims “Oh would to God that I could quench my thirst with a small taste of water from the well in Bethlehem. This water out here is bitter and brackish—but never mind, there is a battle to prepare for.”
The commanders crowd around David and General Joab. They are pouring over the maps talking strategy. David is so focused he fails to notice when three of his commanders slip into the shadows to discuss their own agenda.
“Pssssst,” one commander calls to another. “What are you doing tonight?”
“Why?”
“Well I overheard David muttering to himself how much he would love to have a drink from his well in Bethlehem. What are you doing tonight?
“Going to Bethlehem with you” Eleazar says to Adino. “Let’s get Shammah to join us.”
“All right!”
The three commanders blacken their faces with soot from the fire. They put on the grungiest fatigues they can find. They don helmets with protruding twigs.
They fly down the hillside outside of camp. They approach the Philistine border with great caution. They stalk like cats, intent on their mission. Mind you, this is not a mission for themselves; rather, it is a mission to give David the desire of his heart. They pass the pastures where David herded sheep for many years. There are still sheep grazing in the fields, but the Philistines now control the sheep, the shepherds, the town, and even the water supply.
The commanders scale the city wall and find themselves inside Bethlehem. Although it is the middle of the night, there are noises crackling everywhere. It is as though the Philistine garrison is wide awake as the three slinky figures sneak from house to barn to house to the central square of the city.
The Philistine guards are sleeping by the well. Stepping over the slumbering soldiers, they tip toe down the rock stair way into the well. Tossing a gourd into the water, there is a splashing noise that sounds as if it should wake up the whole city. They freeze. And listen. ZZZZZZZZ [MAKE SNORE SOUND] The soldier above is still sleeping. Adino retrieves the gourd and pours the water into a leather pouch. Remember, the only reason they are risking their lives is because they wish to fulfill a need for someone else.
When the pouch is full Shammah ties it tightly to assure that it will not spill. They sneak back up the stairway and step over the guard. The early dawn now slides fingers of light against the night sky. Philistine soldiers catch the last opportunity for sleep before daybreak. The commanders retrace their trail from house to barn to house to the city wall—hiding in the early morning shadows. Now the danger intensifies as the centuries all around the city are beginning to awake.
Eleazar, Adino, and Shammah run. Their legs feel like bags of wet sand and yet winged at the same time—for they are not on a mission for themselves, but for someone else.
At last they reach the top of the hill where they can look back and see the Philistine forces. They high-five each other as they approach camp.
Suddenly a soldier yells: “Who goes there?”
“It is I, Adino, the Eznite”
“I am Eleazar, the Harahite.”
“It is Commander Shammah, the Ahohite.”
“Where have you been?” the Israelite guard demands.
The commanders are giddy with excitement. They talk all over each other. “We heard David say he wanted water…the Philistines were snoozing…we were nearly discovered at the north—never mind. Where is King David?”
“He's at his tent.”
They hurry to the tent. David opens the flap to find Eleazar, Adino, and Shammah. They stand like statues.
Adino—the greatest of the three—steps forward. He looks at his master and says, “David, King David, we heard you last night say that the desire of your heart was to have water from the well at Bethlehem.”
On cue, Shammah takes off his cloak and pulls out the leather pouch. “David,” says Eleazar, “This canteen is filled with water from the well of Bethlehem. Drink and may your spirit be refreshed.”
David’s eyes swell to the size of kiwis. His jaw drops. Stunned, he tries to make sense of this surreal event. “You mean you went all the way to Bethlehem and risked your lives to get water for me? You would give your life to quench my thirst?”
Shammah speaks, “Well, sir, you said it was the desire of your heart.”
David handles the leather pouch as if it were the Holy Grail. He unties the strings and examines the water. He stares. He smells it like a vintage wine. He is overwhelmed with emotion.
Then the story takes a most unusual twist. David tips the pouch upward, dripping the water to the ground. Dots of water form a puddle that is sucked up by the parched ground.
Not even the king felt worthy of such great sacrifice as demonstrated by Eleazar, Adino, and Shammah.
It is no surprise that these three commanders are included in David’s military hall of fame as recorded in 2 Samuel 23:8-12. There you will find the details of their military conquests. But then you will find the story I have just shared and this interesting postscript:
Second Samuel 23:18 tells us that “Abishai, the brother of Joab, … was chief of the Three.” As for “position,” Abishai was ranked higher than Eleazar, Adino and Shammah. He was chief among the three. The verse continues: “He raised his spear against three hundred men, whom he killed.” If you want to define success in terms of performance, Abishai was impressive. He killed 300 Philistines! Furthermore, the verse tells us: “and [Abishai] became as famous as the Three.” If success is about prominence and fame, then Abishai was clearly the most successful. But notice what Scripture says in the next verse: “Was [Abishai] not held in greater honor than the Three? He became their commander,”--that is, Abishai enjoyed the position of power over them. But then the Bible informs us: “he was not included among them.” The King James Version says, “howbeit he attained not unto the first Three.” In other words, Abishai was not as successful as Eleazar, Adino, and Shammah. Why not? He enjoyed position, performance and prominence over them. Yet he was not as successful. For in the end, success is not some goal to be achieved; rather, it is the inevitable joy in a journey of serving others.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “…to leave the world a little better; whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is the meaning of success.”
So go and be a success today. Leverage your life for others.
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