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Trusting God for Your Success
By Anika Sandy-Hanson
American society focuses on education as the key to success. Children, as young as two-years-old, are placed in settings to increase their cognition and their ability to think. Over the course of my Ph.D. program, colleagues 10-20 years older who desire a doctorate degree have surrounded me. The saying goes that education is important for everyone from those 2 to 92, and most of us between those ages sometimes wonder what all the hard work is for. Why go to school, why study, why participate in extracurricular activities, why do any of it? One response is that education helps to ensure our success in the workplace. But is that the magic key? Examples from the Bible and from contemporary society say maybe not…especially if we have a different definition of success.
The American Heritage Dictionary defines success as, “the achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted.” The second definition is, “the gaining of prosperity or fame.” In our society success usually entails getting the money and recognition; thus, success has come to mean the attainment of career goals or the ability to get money and fame. This practice is not new; many Biblical figures were recognized for their fame. First Kings 4:31 highlights Solomon’s renown and Job 42:10-11 show that the people around him felt Job was worthy of their admiration due to his returned physical accumulations. In fact, God tells us that one of the rewards for obeying Him is physical blessings as exemplified by Genesis 28. Whether we measure our success as these physical blessings or in some other way, can we really trust God to ensure that we achieve our goals?
The Bible shows us many examples of individuals who had to wait on God for their success. Genesis 12:2 is the first place we see God promising to make Abram into a great nation, not until Genesis 17:19 do we see any mention of Isaac, the son God intended to use to fulfill His promise to Abraham. In Ruth 1 it does not appear that God has destined Naomi or Ruth for great success, and even in Mark 15:31-32 it appears that Jesus Christ was defeated. Success appeared to have eluded the Messiah.
Analyzing the entire story shows us these Biblical figures did not abandon their trust in God and this faith allowed them to be successful. Abraham was blessed with Isaac in Genesis 21:3-5 and he lived to see a Godly and upright son who showed him and Sarah as successful parents. Ruth 4:13-17 shows us that Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz were blessed as a family. They trusted in God to deliver them from a difficult situation and they were successful in becoming married and having a family, one that stretched all the way to Jesus who also saw the success of his life’s work. In Matthew 28:18-20 Yashua blesses his disciples and commands them to continue his successful work of spreading the Gospel and bringing others to salvation.
The stories of Abraham, Sarah, and Issac; Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz; and Jesus and His disciples are only three examples of why we can trust in God to ensure our success. From these individuals we can learn that true success is not in attaining career goals, a family full of children, fame, or fortune. Success comes in attaining the goal of obedience to God and alignment with His plan for our lives. Although we may not always know His plan for some areas, we do know His plan for our eternal souls. God wants us to be saved and be a part of His Kingdom; thus, when we focus on this goal and live according to the guidelines He set out for us, and then we can achieve success in all other areas of our lives.
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