What Success In God's Eyes Looks Like

Proverbs 3:5-6

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.

What Does Success Look Like In God’s Eyes?
(and why that can be so fulfilling!)

The United States Air Force recruiter stood before our 10th grade class and asked, “How many of you want to be successful and really make a difference with your life?” The majority of us raised our hands. He then spent the next few minutes explaining to us how the armed services could help make that happen. Being “successful “ is a desire that we all have. What defines that concept is worth exploring if we are to find genuine fulfillment in striving towards it!

The world today looks at the five p’s of success: power, position, prestige, pleasure, and prosperity. At some point, we have all bought into this line of thinking. These are what many look for in order to find fulfillment. But what it gives in return is more uncertainty, fear, and self-centered blindness.

Here are a few quotes from some of the wealthiest and powerful people in history that prove this point.
John D. Rockefeller: “I have made many millions, but they have brought me no happiness.”
John Jacob Astor: “I am the most miserable man on the earth.”
Henry Ford: “I was happier when doing a mechanic’s job.”
Andrew Carnegie: “Millionaires seldom smile.”

At the end of our lives, how will we know that we were successful? How can we rest assured that our lives made a difference and mattered?

I attended a little country church called the “Big Lake Chapel” and went through the confirmation process there. The goal was to teach 7-9 grade students all the important aspects of the Bible so we might have the tools to live for Jesus. At the end of this time we were each given a Bible. The pastor would choose a verse for us and write it out in the cover of our Bible.

In my Bible he wrote Proverbs 3:5-6 that states,
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.”

Sometime later I asked that pastor why he had chosen that verse for me. He said, “I saw that you are one person who will really need that”. I believe God had given him insight into my character and understood how desperately I would struggle with the path God had in store for me. But, oh, how thankful I am for those words that implanted themselves on my young mind!

This Sunday we will be discussing the idea of success and looking at that through God’s lens. I hope you can join us!

Grateful to be on this journey with you,
Pastor John