Yes, our success is God’s desire! I’m always fascinated by the radical promises in the Bible where followers of God promised to prosper in all works at all times.
Of course, we desire our efforts to pay off. It’s so comforting to know that God wants the same for us.
“Let the Lord be magnified, Who takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.” (Psalm 35:27b, AMPC, emphasis mine).
The Hebrew word for prosperity used here is shalowm. It means much more than just prosperity! The word shalowm includes peace, welfare, safety, soundness, health, contentment, friendship with God and people, and completeness.
I don’t know about you, but if I walk in all of these conditions, I can consider myself living a successful life. On top of that God takes pleasure seeing me prosperous!
What does it take to walk in success?
Yet, success isn’t a common matter If we are all not walking in prosperity, there must be something off. The Bible explains what it takes for us to walk in success.
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Joshua 1:8, ESV, emphasis mine).
God was calling Joshua and making sure that someone who does His will succeeds and prospers. However, Joshua couldn’t do whatever he felt like. He was advised to meditate on God’s Law, the way of ruling in order to catch His heart's desire and will.
In another place we read:
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”(Psalm 1:1–3, ESV, emphasis mine).
God’s Word is life-giving streams of water that nourish, clean, and refresh whoever consumes them. God wants us to focus and enjoy His words, His standards, and character.
Both of the latter scriptures include the Hebrew word tsalach which has a different connotation than shalowm. Tsalach defines success as a river that no matter what kind of barriers are encountered, it finds a way through and advances.
Joseph, the son of Jacob, is the best example of this kind of success. He was sold into slavery, yet He became prosperous. He was forgotten in jail, yet he had risen up to become the second most authoritative figure in Egypt at that time. Nothing in his way stopped him from becoming successful as he always naturally found a way out of seemingly hopeless circumstances.
The definition of success in the Bible is like a rush of water: unstoppable, wild, and powerful.
The manual
The Word of God reveals the goal of creation, defines the intended function of humans. It’s like an instruction manual that explains how to use a product to get the best value out of it. Not reading the manual opens up opportunities for the product to be misused.
Therefore, it’s only natural that if we get to know ourselves and God in whose image we are created, we start to function more properly. Everything begins to work like a well-oiled machine. That’s where success has its full effect!
A smartphone is successful as long as it’s used in accordance with its intended purpose. The manual of the device reveals the functions and how to use them, possible problems, and how to solve them but most importantly it describes what the smartphone is.
All this knowledge is contributing to the prosperous experience of the user. Does the maker of a device intended his creation to be used successfully and to its full capacity? We are safe to say yes!
God’s heart for the success of His people
Realizing all of that, we avoid the arising concern about becoming successful in the wrong thing. Although the first psalm gives us a general statement that in all that a person does he prospers, we know we cannot be successful in doing bad if we delight in God’s law. The context of the psalm demands that all one’s actions will be prosperous as he delights in the word of God.
It gives complete freedom only within a certain area.
Let me explain why that’s a good thing.
I like to see freedom as an open door to do what I’m called to do. In other words, I need the freedom to be able to do what I need to do in life. Anything beyond that I’m not in any way concerned about.
It’s not about having the ability to do whatever we desire because sometimes our flesh seeks things that aren’t useful but damaging. It’s healthy to restrict the freedom to avoid wasting time or energy on activities that bear no fruit. That’s called discipline or self-control.
God has a plan for our lives and wants them to go in a certain direction. There has to be order and reverence to the created purpose we have. Actions that shift away from the purpose are damaging force to our existence. They can never be called success.
God wants His people to live prosperous lives in all ways. He is on our side and not against us. If the course of our water stream changes direction, it can be corrected. We don’t need to be afraid to fail, make a mistake, or a wrong choice. There’s no pressure.
God, as the loving Father, wants us to succeed. We are made in the image of the One who is the most successful. God is not demanding success but providing it. If your focus is right if you delight on who God is and in the opinion that He has, it’s impossible not to prosper.
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