Your Why Determines Success

Your Why Determines Success

 

            It was a comfortable life. He lived in the lush green area of the Mesopotamia. Leaving the land would not be practical. After all, why would one leave a successful life for the uncertainty of another? The evening sun brought security as he observed all he had and the blessings of his family. The wealth he and his family had accumulated had been substantial. It only made sense to revel in what he had for the rest of his days. Still, uneasiness welled within his soul. The restlessness could not be explained, but he knew there was something that must be done to make his life complete. In Genesis 12:1 the Bible says:

           

The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will how you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will   bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Even though it could be said that Abram had no clear goal, I would argue to the contrary. God had given Abram his goal. What was his goal? To obey God and trust him to lead where he needed to go. God also gave him his “Why.”

            Your why is that which motivates you above everything else to complete a task. If your “why” is not strong enough you will give up long before you approach success. It is a good practice to write down your why and look at it daily. We will discuss the mechanics later in this chapter.            Abram’s why is stated obviously in the fact that he would be a great nation. Of course, now we know that great nation is Israel and Abram is Abraham.

            Abram’s goal gives us a clearer picture into how to set our own goals. It is clear that we must set our goals according to the will of God if we want to be blessed by God. Psalm 37:4 says that “God will give us the desires of our heart if we delight in the Lord.” How does one delight in the Lord? Matthew 6:33 says, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.” In other words, when your focus is on seeking God, he will give you the desires of your heart.

            Abram’s desire, like most men, was to have a successful legacy to leave to future generations. God far exceeded that desire in the nation of Israel. When Abram was renamed Abraham by God and became the father of many nations, his legacy was solidified forever.

            Perhaps the most important ingredient to success is your “why.” Why are you seeking to be successful? For the Christian the answer is simple; the why is to glorify God. Whatever God calls the Christian to do whether engineering, medicine, preacher or ditch digger it must be for the glory of God. The Christians success is formulated in the glorification of Jesus Christ. 

Even though God’s glory is the common denominator, each person’s why will vary from individual to individual. Possibly your why is to live in a better house, drive a better car or preach to more people. Perhaps about now you are asking, “I thought you said we were to glorify God? How is living in a better house or driving a better car glorifying to God?”

            God wants to bless his children. It is not God’s will for us to be paupers. Paul was under house arrest in his first stint in prison in Rome. He could have been in the dungeon. But he was to reach the palace guard with the Gospel. Therefore, God blessed him to be able to afford to live in a house and be under house arrest instead of being placed in the dungeon.

            To have the option to be under house arrest an individual must first have a house. Paul would have had to purchase or rent such a place. God gave him the provision to be able to do just that. A pauper would not have been able to afford such a lavish “jail cell.”

            What was God’s purpose for allowing Paul to have such comfortable surroundings; to proclaim the Gospel and give glory to God! You see, in order for Paul to be under house arrest he had to have a guard on him. He was chained to a guard, but he still gave the Gospel to each of them as they were chained to him. You can guess what happened. The guards kept getting saved and then they in turn would tell others about Christ. Philippians 1:12 says:

Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.

God’s plan varies from individual to individual. If God wants you to minister the Gospel to heads of state and the rich, he may supply you with a jet and a Rolls Royce to do it. That is not to say that he lets others “off the hook” if they do not have access to these extravagant tools.

            The purpose of this entire argument is to state that God should not be placed in a box; nor does Scripture advocate being poor for Christ. God simply says that he is to be glorified in everything we do as Christians (1 Corinthians 10:31).

            Many have used 1 Timothy 6:10 as a crutch to embrace their laziness. However, the Scripture does not say money is the root of all evil. It states as follows, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs (Italics Added).” It goes back to the theme of seeking God.

            Those who seek money instead of God will succumb to many diverse kinds of evil. However, the money itself is just a tool to be used for the glory of God. It is important to continue in the context of what Paul is writing. The context of 1 Timothy 6 is to those that are seeking to be rich. In other words, their focus is on the being rich, not on what the riches will do for the Kingdom of God. Paul is not saying that it is sinful to be rich. In fact, as one reads on in the very same passage Paul writes:

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

(1 Timothy 6:17-19)

Perhaps you noticed the part of the Scripture that says,

“. . . who richly provides everything for our enjoyment.” It is God’s will that we live an enjoyable life.   

            Still not convinced? Try to print Bibles without money. Try to go on a mission trip without money. Try to build a church without money. Try to spread the Gospel on a broad scale without money.  Try to feed your family without money. Paul mentions money many times in his letters and gives thanks to God because he had the wherewithal to give the Gospel through its use.

            Money is not the problem. Sin is the problem. Attitude is the problem. Lack of trust is the problem. But money ranks with any other tool that is needed to do a job. As long as the tool is used to glorify God, it is blessed of God. A hammer can be used to build great buildings, but can also be used a weapon for murder. Is a hammer then sinful? Of course not!