“The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands” (Genesis 39:2-3, ESV).

To some degree, people want some form of success. It might be in an area of life, in their career, business, or some other thing. But I think for most, though, success seems to be an ever elusive pursuit.

What is success? I think that success is accomplishing something that is significant to the achiever. Now, some people define success as greatness, or gaining some form of fame or notoriety. However, the way I think of success is the ability to achieve that which you desire. The key, though, is that you cannot be successful by simply existing, you have to actually do something.

I’ll share a story with you from my own experience. I want to be successful, meaning that I want to live a life that is purpose driven and helps other people. I want to do something significant with the life God has given me. So, I tried many things, all of them were pursuits of my own doing, self-generated, and human based. Every time I started one thing, I always seemed to hit a wall. I couldn’t seem to find the success I wanted in my pursuits. During this time, I didn’t seek God in any of the endeavors I was pursuing. I kept hitting wall after wall. I think I was scared to actually surrender and seek God. Stupid me! The frustration I experienced jumping from project to project was extremely aggravating. I would actually get angry. Finally, my anger bubbled over into surrender because I couldn’t do anything any more. I gave up because there wasn’t anything else to do. Everything I tried wasn’t working. So, I stopped the projects I was thinking about and working on and decided to simply read scripture and figure out what God says about success. As I began to listen to scripture, my pride began to crumble down. More and more I started to understand creation, people, relationships, and the work of God through the ages, from His perspective. As I did, the wall that was holding me back (my pride) was brought down and replaced with humility in understanding that God was the author of success. He is the author of me. I fit in His story, not the other way around. I started experiencing true peace and clarity of what God desired for me. I tried so hard to make my own story, instead of discovering God’s story.

The first thing to understand about success is that it comes from God. Jesus even says that in John 15. “I am the True vine, and My Father is the Vine dresser…Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me” (John 15:1, 4, ESV). There are plenty more scriptures that support this, and maybe I’ll share them in future posts.

So, now it’s time for action. Here are some action steps and a few questions in gaining the success that only comes from God.

Begin by surrendering your life to God! He created YOU, and He knows you better than you know yourself. Believe me, He has a better plan for you than you could make for yourself. I had to learn this the hard way. Don’t make the same mistake that I made. Don’t let your pride keep you from experiencing the elation, freedom and peace that can only be found in Him.

Spend time reading scripture and praying. God is a person and, therefore, your relationship is like any other relationship. If you want to know what amazing things God has for you, you have to get to know and understand God. Commit to 15-30 minutes a day of reading scripture, praying, and thanking God for specific blessings. This gets the focus off of you and on to Him where it should be. Do this for 30 days, preferably in the morning when your mind is fresh and clear. You must form a new habit for the rest of your life. If you’re feeling zealous, here’s what I do. I have an hour and a half commute to work. I decided to spend the entire time listening to scripture, praying, and then worshiping with some awesome tunes.

Goal setting. Here’s a few questions I ask when I set big goals.
How will this glorify God?
Will this help me or others know God more intimately?
Will I grow in godliness?
Will this serve an eternal purpose?

Ponder these things and seek to be a part of God’s story. We are his creation, so how does He want you to help others?

Well, I want to hear from you. What would success look like for you? What do you want to achieve? Did this help you?