A Godly Measure of Success

pakwired.com

Success, according to Dictionary.com:

Do you notice the connotation? Success is something that you and I attain. We shape it, find it, and seize it as our own. It’s up to us to set the goals that, once accomplished, are considered success.

Hold this definition up to the Bible’s definition of success:

…..

……… there isn’t one.

Believe it or not, whenever we find the word “success” in Scripture, it’s very translated. If you look up success in a concordance and then trace back to the Hebrew or Greek, you’ll find definitions like “out,” “advance,” “prosper,” and “wisdom.”

You’ll also find that whenever “success” is used, it is accompanied by the clarifying words “from the Lord.”

Psalm 118 and Genesis 27:20 tell us that success is the Lord’s to grant. When examined more closely, the phrase in Hebrew is indicating that prosperity, also described in modern times as a blessing, is something given by the Lord.

In Nehemiah 2:20, we read the proclamation that God will give success. The Hebrew reads more closely “He will prosper to us.” Contemporarily “He will bless us with.”

David, as you likely know, “had great success, because the LORD was with him” (1 Samuel 18:14.) But the Hebrew more directly says that David “behaved in wise ways,” which led to the blessings of prosperity.

When Job cried out, “Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me?” You see, success was never Job’s power or help…the Hebrew word here is “wisdom” (Job 6:13.)

Indeed, the popular Proverb 2:7, which reads “He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless” uses the word success to describe what in Hebrew is “sound wisdom.” This sort of wisdom is called “helpful insight” and it advances a person, helping a person to abide in accomplishing that which they set out to do. Deliverance is involved.

And isn’t that right on?

Scriptural examples of success are all about receiving from the Lord and glorifying Him with that which is given.

Jesus’ success was measured by His Father being pleased. The disciples’ success was measured not by number of conversions or reach of message, but by responding to the call of the Lord accordingly.

Gain and attainment are merely the results of what Scripture calls success: wisdom and blessings. They are not the goal themselves.

Both wisdom and blessings are gifts from the Lord.

Doesn’t that change what you strive for?

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” –James 1:5

This post is being shared on: #TestimonyTuesday, #RaRaLinkup, Intentionally Pursuing,Titus2sday, Woman to Woman Wednesday, Women with Intention, andTellHisStory.