What is success to us as believers? Has it got to do with how many material things we acquire in the world? Does it count as a success before God? What must we do to be successful according to God’s perspective?
Because of variance in an understanding of what success is, I reckon that it will always color our outlook in life. But our reference should be God’s Word. And the easiest example is Jesus.
Let’s do a storyline on Jesus:
Born into a carpenter family. He learnt carpentry. He must have helped in building furniture in Nazareth. He must have gone out with a hammer, nails, and rule to fix broken furniture from customers. He must have diligently followed father Joseph in doing the work. If we were Him, we could have thought that our life goal was to take over a booming carpentry work from father Joseph. But I’m sure His mother must have repeatedly said to him, “You were born miraculously to do deliver people for God. Something came upon me and I became pregnant. And God said you will save your people. That’s what your name meant. You can help your father, but you are not to be a carpenter. God has a purpose for you.”
Then He grew up and He started gravitating more towards things of God. One day He went for baptism like any of us and booooom, heaven opened with the Spirit of God descending upon Him like a dove with those assurance words. Everyone present saw it. They knew it was strange. God came down to affirm Him as His Son. And in that power of the Holy Spirit, He was led into the wilderness to fast, got tempted and He returned in the power of the Holy Spirit…and He set off on what He was sent to do on the earth. From that day, He found Himself in every scripture.
To Jesus, success is finishing all that God wanted Him to do. He said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me, and to finish His work.” (John 4:34) That’s saying “success to me is when I finish what God wants me to do on earth.” And we know what that was for Jesus. Success is not being the best in carpentry, though He might have tried it.
While we remain diligent on whatever we are doing now, everyone of us must diligently seek God to reveal or direct or reaffirm to us what He wants us to do for Him on earth. Our prayers should be “Show me your ways! Show me what you want me to do for you on this earth? Why did you send me here? Show me my Father. Direct me. Guide me. Reveal yourself to me like Jacob, like Paul. Show me my Father”. And His Spirit will lead us into them. We will experience peace of the Holy Spirit as He leads us on those things.
I pray the God of Glory that appeared to the patriarchs will show Himself to us all. Amen.
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