Not Successful

If we find God's will for our life, will we be successful? I do not here necessarily mean successful as the world sees success. I do not necessarily mean we will have wealth, fame, and power. It is possible to look at success from a spiritual viewpoint. That we will have a congregation that is growing, a family that is living for Christ, a nice, relatively comfortable life full of friends, neighbors, and good times. I mean, does not the Bible say we will prosper (Joshua 1:7,8; Psalms 1:3; Isaiah 40:31) and be victorious (Romans 8:37; 2 Corinthians 2:14; 1 John 5:4)? This should not be taken simply financially (1 Timothy 6:6-10; Matthew 6:24; Colossians 3:5). But it must mean something.

I am convinced that prosperity and victory here are from God's perspective. That when we stand before Him we will be able to look back and see what the point of it all was. But we do not always see it at the present time. There was Elijah, through whom God worked impressive miracles, but the people refused to permanently change their ways. There was Jeremiah, who cried tears over Jerusalem, but his ministry could not bring the people to repent. We are called not to pass judgment on our labors, but simply to continue in faithfulness (1 Corinthians 4:1-5; Philippians 1:6; Romans 8:28-30). Now I am not intending to oppose intelligent taking stock of whether we are doing the right thing in the best way. But I am speaking against that persistent nagging doubt that stalks those whose life has not turned out as they hoped it would. And it is here we need to trust God, even if we do not know where our path is leading us (Proverbs 3:5,6; Psalms 127:1,2; 37:3-6).