There’s so
much pressure from friends, family and even enemies J to succeed in the world
today. With the increasing use of social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,
Snapchat etc.), almost everyone wants to portray themselves as “living the
life”. Nevertheless, as people have become more successful, it appears that they
are also becoming more pressured, unhappier, depressed and even suicidal. Can
it then be said that success breeds unhappiness or depression? The answer is
no. God desires all-round success for all His children. In other words, God
wants us to enjoy spiritual, physical and financial prosperity (3 John 2). However, therein lies the crux of the matter- we largely neglect the first two forms of
prosperity, chasing the last instead. We desire the gift, but pay no attention
to the giver.
Since we know that every good and perfect gift is from God our
heavenly father, what do we need to do to receive the blessings of God which
make rich and add no sorrow (James 1:17; Proverbs 10:22)? Our heavenly
father is willing to give good gifts to all His children who ask Him (Matthew
7:11). The key word here is “children”. How then do we become children of God?
It’s simply by believing in Him (John 1:12). Once we accept and believe in Him,
we receive the rights to be called His children, along with the privileges that
come with being joint heirs with Christ. The next step is to walk in holiness
and righteousness that is, obeying His instructions (in simple terms). An heir
would have to carefully follow any directives left by the testator to inherit
his estate. Failure to follow such instructions may cause the heir to forfeit
his rights to the inheritance. Similarly, when we fail to follow our Father’s
directives, as outlined in His word, we forfeit our rights to His assets. We
will only enjoy abundance when we obey Him willingly (Isaiah 1:19).
Following on
from above is the need to study and meditate on His word to achieve good
success (Joshua 1:8). As a road user, you must read the Highway Code to know and
obey the traffic rules. Likewise, before obeying the Father’s instructions you
need to know what those instructions are by reading and studying His word on a
continuous basis. The next thing is to ask Him for wisdom and direction in
terms of our career, business and life choices. God is the embodiment of wisdom and
is able to give the same liberally (James 1:5). Moreover, He is the one who
teaches us what is good for us and lead us along the path we should go (Isaiah
48:17- New Living Translation).
Diligence is
a very important trait we need to develop in order to achieve and maintain success. Be
diligent in your work because God will entrust us with bigger tasks, positions
or wealth, only when we have proven ourselves faithful in small things (Luke
16:10). You may have been labelled as the less likely one to succeed in your
family, workplace, or even in the society. This, however, makes you the best candidate
for God’s blessings because He makes leaders out of losers; He puts poor people
on their feet again; and he rekindles burned-out lives with fresh hope (Daniel
4:17; 1 Samuel 2:8- The Message version).
Since a
man's word is only as good as his worth, how can we be sure that God is able to
give us success? The extent and quality of God’s estate is such that the earth
and everything in it (including the people) belongs to Him (Psalms 24:1). Also,
He owns the silver and the gold, and all power belongs to Him (Haggai 2:8;
Psalms 62:11). He is also an extremely generous father, who has promised to
give us treasures hidden in the darkness – secret riches, so that we might eat in
plenty and be satisfied and praise Him in return. To gain access to all of
these, all you need to do is to believe in Him and you will be saved (Acts
16:31).
