Defining Success
What does it mean to be successful? How do you define success? We probably all have similar variations on the answer. But God’s idea of success and ours may be very different, depending on our decision to seek Him first in our lives. One of my favorite chapters of the Bible is Matthew six, and one of my favorite verses is Matthew 6:33. “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Before this statement of truth, Jesus has explained that we need not worry about the necessities of life because God knows we need them. He encourages us to seek God first, and we will be richly blessed.
As we seek God, we draw closer to knowing our purpose, to knowing success in His eyes—not the world’s. In life, we can’t be positive of the outcome. Regardless of how much we prepare, mold, and refine, the product and so much of the results are often different than we expect. This is quite frustrating for a recovering control freak like me. Can I get an, “Amen,” or at least a, “bless your heart?”
But there is good news: The all-powerful God can do so much more than we can imagine. C.S. Lewis puts it this way it is “like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea.”
Although the end result may be different than we expect, if we pay attention, we can identify success along the way. We can celebrate small accomplishments that may have huge returns.
As I waited in the Jacksonville airport for my very first writer’s conference, trying to stay calm, my phone buzzed. It was my husband. He’d called to tell me that our daughter had just said how proud she was of me for going after my dreams, persevering, working so hard. I mean, Wow! That is probably enough right there. That my children are learning perseverance from watching me. I can’t wait to see how these seeds of faith grow into amazing accomplishments for God’s Kingdom.
But that’s not all, people have made connections through me. At my second writers’ conference, I shared a room with Lauren Crews. Lauren is an amazing Bible teacher. (You should check out her website at http://www.laurencrews.com/ ) When we returned home from the conference, Juana Jordan, the pastor-in-residence at my church, told me she was a writer. I promptly set up a lunch to introduce Juana to Lauren. Honestly, I don’t even know why I thought they should meet–obviously, God. Anyways, they became good friends and prayer partners. Lauren supported Juana in her ministry efforts in Jacksonville, and Juana provided Lauren with a forum to teach and worship. I’m going to call that success. We never know how far reaching a simple act can be.
These are only two stories of God’s faithfulness, of how God is working through my writing journey, but there are so many more, and so far, success hasn’t come in the form of a publishing contract. As much as I want my books published, I’m okay (most of the time) with serving him faithfully, and I can say without a published book, “I have been successful.”