I'll start with a quote from a book I'm reading called "The Circle Maker", and it reads as follows:
"You need to circle the goals God wants you to go after, the promises God wants you to claim, and the dreams God wants you to pursue."
In other words as the book also suggests, success is not circumstantial because it is less about "doing" God's will and more about "being" God's will.
People get high and mighty over what they want to achieve in life. Your job ultimately determines your success, or maybe your money. Whatever it is, most of the time there's a blank to fill in and an overwhelming percent of the time it is something tangible. Let me give you an alternative:
Try filling in the blank of what defines success with something intangible.
Most of my life and even now I'm in a battle, as are most of you out there, and if you're not you may be in denial, about what path I want to go on in life and if that direction is right for me. There's a problem with that. I'm defining success in terms of something tangible. Will my job be right? That's tangible. Will my place of location be right? That's tangible. Will I choose the right house? That's tangible. Why can't we define success in a different way?
Here comes the part where I tell you what I believe and following this I'll give you a challenge. I believe success is defined by your character and respect in life. Both of my grandfathers hold weight as respectable men in business and both of my grandmothers as amazing supporting women in the home. Are either of those roles something outstanding and highly achievable positions by people in America? Maybe so, but most likely not. Success for them was defined by their character! The respect held for them by everyone around them, family or not, determined their success. They only cared about being famous in their own homes, and to them that was their greatest fortune ( that last line paraphrased from The Circle Maker).
Let your success be defined by how you raise your children, how you treat others, how you are respected, the reflection of your character and MOST importantly for us believers, how you are BEING God's will and not just doing it. Do not be held captive to the motions of just church alone, or life in general, but rather be the will of God in your life. Show others Jesus wherever you're at. Show others Jesus in whatever job you're meant to be in, carrying out that specific potential God placed on your life.
Now for the challenge. After reading this and reflecting on your own, grab a piece of paper and pen, or your Notes app, and write this question:
How do I define success?
Answer that honestly and compare that to God's definition which is the way you show the world Him. Compare your own personal acts of justice and the respect your family, peers and everyone who comes in contact with you in whatever area of life you're in, have on you. See how that compares and change anything tangible to things meaningful and also Godly.
