6 thoughts on Success
I woke up this morning and God led me to Proverbs 24 in my book The Message//Remix: Solo and here is what it said:
3 It takes wisdom to build a house,
and understanding to set it on a firm foundation;
4 It takes knowledge to furnish its rooms
with fine furniture and beautiful draperies.
15 Don’t interfere with good people’s lives;
don’t try to get the best of them.
16 No matter how many times you trip them up,
God-loyal people don’t stay down long;
Soon they’re up on their feet,
while the wicked end up flat on their faces.
17 Don’t laugh when your enemy falls;
don’t crow over his collapse.
18 God might see, and become very provoked,
and then take pity on his plight.
19 Don’t bother your head with braggarts
or wish you could succeed like the wicked.
20 Those people have no future at all;
they’re headed down a dead-end street.
21 Fear God, dear child—respect your leaders;
don’t be defiant or mutinous.
28 Don’t talk about your neighbors behind their backs—
no slander or gossip, please.
29 Don’t say to anyone, “I’ll get back at you for what you did to me.
I’ll make you pay for what you did!”
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I love this passage because I think we live in a culture and in a world where we’ve have made it almost a common practice to step on someone to get a better deal, a better price, a better job, a better career, a better ministry position, a better speaking event, etc. etc. etc.
But I beg the question, who defines better in your world? What wisdom, understanding, and knowledge do you have that help you define what is better and even more importantly the route you will take to get there.
Some questions to consider that may help reveal to you, how you define better:
1) Is there someone in your life who you would consider “good” that you always feel the need to outdo or compete with or try to get the best of that person?
2) Do you try to trip people up and make people look back to get what you want?
3) Do you always feel like you are flat on your face why others are succeeding? (Ref Proverbs 24:16)
4) Do you laugh at people when they fail or give up instead of encouraging them? (Remember God see’s all, ref Proverbs 24:18)
5) Do you wish to succeed with techniques of those that are successful around you? Even if you see wickedness in the way they did it?
6) Do you talk about people behind their backs? Do you gossip or slander them?
7) Is your first instinct revenge in a situation where someone hurt you?
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My encouragement here is that I had to repent of some things during the reading of this passage, I think if we are truly honest we all will in some way. Do yourself a favor and truly sit down and talk to God and ask him to reveal the condition of your hurt when it comes to your pursuit of success. Yes we all are a product of our environments in some way, but there comes a point with all of us when we can either choose to let the world define us or allow God to define us through His word…you decide…
