By Sis Bukky & Dannah.
Success is a word that is misconstrued a lot in the postmodern world. People view success as the attainment of wealth, fame, honour or eminence. Unfortunately, many people viewed as successful by this definition consider themselves a failure, and some sadly end their lives. This confirms that there is more to success than self- attained fame or wealth.
Another school of thought admonishes one to think big, live your dreams and aim for the sky to succeed. However, Jamie Anderson, a strategic management professor, in his 2015 TEDx talk on What is Success, Really? concludes that “shooting for the moon is great, but out there in the universe, there are a lot of moons so just make sure that the moon you are shooting for is yours”. With close to 8 billion people and each shooting for their moon in our vast world, the task could look unsurmountable. The help of The Omniscient is genuinely required for this high precision task of identifying and shooting your very own moon. Interestingly, He will gladly help if only we fully commit our lives into His hands. There could be many ways to succeed, but He promises to guide you along the best pathway for your life Psalm 32:8a NLT.
God is particularly delighted when we succeed as his wish is that we succeed and prosper and be in good health just as your soul prospers 3 John 1:2 Amp. He genuinely cares about every bit that concerns us; yes, God even knows how many hairs you have on your head Luke 12:7a ERV. The bible is filled with several examples that demonstrate God’s desire for his children to succeed.
Reflecting on Israel’s exodus from Egypt, God desired to bring them to the promised land. For Israel as well, freedom from bondage and having a land of their own was the ultimate mark of success. God’s actions from pathing the red sea to the wilderness journey and the final possession of the land confirm His interest in our success. God was keen to ensure the success of this mission; in His omniscience, He took them at a point through a longer way to ensure they did not retreat (Exodus 13:17-18). He provided for their needs through the journey, and their clothes or shoes did not wear for forty years to ensure their goal was achieved; how amazing! Unfortunately, Israel rebelled and disobeyed God despite all His goodness. These resulted in the Israelites’ delays and inability to be experiential partakers of this ultimate success. Sin is a showstopper in the pursuit of success.
Joseph is another example of success in the scriptures. He understood God’s plan and purpose for him right from an early age. Though sold into slavery, he was unwavering in fulfilling this purpose. Humanly speaking, Joseph was in the worst placed to succeed in a strange land; as a slave, servant and then a prisoner. However, his story demonstrates God’s interest in our success when aligned with his purpose. Joseph was diligent, as shown in Genesis 39 and God worked out his path (which may look hard) to become Egypt’s ruler in an extraordinary way.
As much as God wants us to succeed, there are established principles laid down by Him to achieve this success.
- Living in holiness and obedience to God is key to succeeding, as shown in Joshua 1:8. We must live by the book of the law (the Bible), meditate therein, and observe to do according to all that is written therein as this would make thy way prosperous and grant us the desired good success.
- The principles of hard work and diligence in achieving success are clearly stated in the Bible. Like Joseph, we must be diligent in whatever God has committed into our hands. Proverbs 12:24 says that the hand of the diligent shall bear rule and Proverbs 22:29 confirms that the diligent would stand before kings.
- The final principle we would consider is humility. In 1 Cor 2:9 KJV, the Bible states that “…Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him”. This confirms God’s mind regarding our success. However, success can be self-destructive, hence, we must remember that God gives us everything we have. In the sad story of King Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26), he was marvellously helped by the Lord, became powerful, famous with several inventions credited to him. Unfortunately, he grew arrogant and ended up an outcast. In success, we must Remember the LORD your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful … Deut 8:18