Many times we get sucked into believing success means a life free from hardships. In the church world large crowds, lots of money, prestige and notoriety speak to us of success YET this is not the standard by which God measures success.
Success is defined as the accomplishment of an aim or purpose and once we have achieved our purpose we can say we have succeeded. Since we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus there can be no “true” success apart from Christ. Created for good works which God has prepared before hand that we should walk in them; success must be considered through the lens of the works we have been created to achieve. There can be no triumph until we engage in His work and live through His victories. He is the one that causes us to triumph. Success is overcoming every obstacle we face in order to achieve the works He has left for us.
When we find our identity in Christ, we discover our purpose. We see the works ordained for us. Our beginning is in Christ. He is the author and finisher of every aspect of our life. We have nothing that has not first originated with the Father, discovered in Christ, birthed by the Holy Spirit, walked out and finished by us.
Jesus on the cross declares, “it is finished”. Success in the eyes of God. From Acts 27 we find Paul, a prisoner on a ship headed to Rome, in the midst of a storm with the ship sinking. Success to Paul in the midst of this was to encourage the men to take heart because God said no life would be lost. In 2 Corinthians, Paul lists the hardships he has faced and to the Ephesian Elders, Paul affirms none of ‘these things’ move him. Success to Paul was to be able to finish his race and the ministry he had received in the Lord. In Philippians Paul measures success through his knowledge and conformation to Christ.
What greater glory are we able to bring to the Father than a life that accomplishes all that it has been created for. Don’t allow yourself to be sucked into the lie that says you are not succeeding. As long as we stay connected to Christ ~ in Christ, we always triumph. We learn. We grow. We work. We conform. We overcome.
Success is getting to the end knowing you have finished all the good works assigned to you and are still living vitally connected to Him. Today we are strengthened with His might in our inner man to know, to be and to do and we give thanks to God because He always causes us to triumph in Christ.