Success is an intentional thing.
There is no overnight success. There is no “ship” that comes in.
I certainly believe in the blessing and miraculous intervention of God and am grateful when that happens in my life.
But I’ve come to see that most of the time those blessings/miracles come after I’ve been a long time on the same path of obedience and perseverance.
Small steps in the right direction, every day without fail, will eventually get you there.
You don’t drift into success. It comes because you work toward it.
You reap what you sow.
That’s one of the many ways the Bible says it, and I’ve come to see that statement in a new way over the past two years. I’ve also come to see that the principle of sowing and reaping applies to every person in every place at every time.
Of course God can step in and alter that process if He desires (He is God after all), but generally speaking He doesn’t, because “you reap what you sow” is HIS idea, one of the many principles that He uses to govern the world and how things in it happen.
You will reap (harvest) what you sow (plant).
- Plant seeds of laziness and you’ll reap a harvest of want and need.
- Plant seeds of wise and diligent work and you’ll harvest the rewards of success and prosperity.
- Plant seeds of self-pity and you’ll reap a harvest of depression and inaction.
- Plant seeds of faithful obedience and you’ll reap a harvest of God’s blessing on your life.
That’s how success comes – or not. And it was God’s idea
That is how He plans to bless your family.
That is how He plans to bless the world through you.
That is the process He intends to use to grow you more and more into the image of His Son, Jesus.
And that is more important than any other success you might have.
Keep your eyes there, on the truest type of success – the success of knowing God.
…but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.
If your desire for business success or career success draws you away from that – you’re headed down a very painful road.
You’re leaving behind the very SOURCE by which you will be able to achieve success that matters.
Remember, the “reap what you sow” principle was God’s idea. It’s His plan to bring blessing into your life and your world.
And because it’s His principle, He has the right to circumvent it at any time… and in my experience He will circumvent it if that’s what it takes to pull your heart back to Him.
I know people who have experienced monstrous accidents, contracted diseases, and endured terrible losses who have told me point-blank that what happened to them was a kindness of God.
Yes, a kindness.
Why? Because they were pursuing life apart from Him and He didn’t want them to reap the consequences of that kind of life. So, a terrible accident that would give them a wake-up-call was better in the long run than a life of ambition and success without Him.
So stay on track. Keep Jesus front and center. Seek Him more than you seek business and career success. Include Him in your business and planning.
THAT is the best way to move with intention toward the success God wants you to have.
I’d love to interact with you about these thoughts…