God Gives Success

Her beauty was unsurpassed. Her silky skin shined in the moonlight. The flow of her hair was enticing to gaze upon. She had been blessed by God with the physical qualities attributed to a goddess rather than a mortal woman. She appeared to be pure in heart, but it was soon to be proven that she was not. Nevertheless, God allowed her to succeed. The success of a lineage of people was to reside in her loins. Through her, the entire human race was to have hope and eternal security.

            God chose to use this woman to ensure that his prophecy would be fulfilled. God chose to bless her for all eternity through a Savior who would be born thousands of years in the future. Even though she failed in the eyes of the world, God used her to succeed for mankind. Bathsheba could have refused the advances of King David. Nevertheless, she succumbed to the allure of royalty and had an elicit relationship with the king.

            Even so, she became the mother of Solomon and remained in the lineage of The Savior of the World; Jesus Christ. Even in the midst of our failures God gives success. God has a plan for your success in this life. Even though plans sometimes differ from those of your liking, God has a plan for your success.

            If God has called you to a task, you will be successful. It might even be said through the example of Bathsheba that God will make you successful even if you stray from his task. The important thing is to continuously seek him so you will know when you stray; then, you will return to Him again and more easily get back on track.

            What is your need today? What is the struggle that you are experiencing in your walk? If you are not experiencing struggles then you are not growing. Is your prayer life exactly where it should be? Is your study of the Word exactly where it should be? Are your work habits exactly where they should be? Is everything you are doing glorifying to God?

            God wants you to experience an abundant life. The abundance that he offers you comes from the wisdom of God and the knowledge of how we are to walk with him. He wants to be a part of your life every day. He is not interested in being a “Sunday only” God. He wants to have a relationship with you.

            As Americans we struggle to separate needs from wants. The line between the two becomes convoluted. Like spoiled children we get mad at God because he did not give us the new house or car we wanted. As I watch my grandchildren I observe the same behavior. They get mad if I do not allow them to have the toy that they wanted from the store. But when I do let them have the toy, they don’t take care of it and it only lasts for a fleeting amount of time; many times only a few moments.

            God says he will meet our needs if we will allow him to. He will give us the wisdom needed to discern between what is truly meaningful and what is fleeting. Even so, God’s will for abundance include work! As previously stated, Genesis 3 makes it clear that we are to work.

            Your dreams and goals cannot be reached without work. One of God’s laws for Mankind is that man must work. He cannot expect to get anything if he does not work. It might be stated the previous is not necessarily true. After all, there are many government programs the enable one to receive without doing the work. Nevertheless, many of these programs are a perversion of God’s Word to gain control over those who do not seek to do what God has planned for their lives. They have been deceived to believe that they are to receive only those things that are provided for them by another. Nothing could be further from the truth.         No one can expect to succeed in the manner in which they dream of success by remaining a slave to another. The same might even be said of those who are not willing to step out from a secure job to seek what they need to do to reach their goals and dreams.

            Perhaps someone might be thinking that there are not enough jobs. People have to receive aid from the government. I am not saying all government programs are bad. Many need them for temporary solutions. Notice the word temporary. It must be realized that those who seek to use the government for permanent solutions can never expect to succeed in the manner in which God has planned for their life.

            If one is not willing to take a risk and do great things, he or she will not accomplish great things. Until one takes the risk of failure, one cannot hope to succeed. That is not to say, “Success is easy!” Quite the contrary, success requires work and sacrifice. Nevertheless, success is always worth the sacrifice needed to attain it.