THE ART OF SUCCESS

...you will be prosperous and successful. Joshua 1:8 (NIV)

A few years ago, Hubby and I attended a friend's party.  The food was delicious and our friend was the perfect hostess, replenishing our plates with goodies as soon as we'd finished one course, before starting the next.  But the highlight of that occasion was the napkins on the table.  They resembled twenty pound notes.  They were so realistic in fact, that they were the talking point of the entire afternoon.  One guest referred to it as 'the art of success'.  

It was art parading as success.  

For many people success is defined by how much money they earn or have in their bank accounts, the postcode where they live, the qualifications that hang on their wall or the achievements of their children.  And they parade these success like works of art hanging in a museum.

Guru after guru offer package after package that encourages you to 'get rich quick', 'achieve your dreams overnight', 'have the life you have always wanted'.  And so we seek success so that we can wear it as a badge of honour to let others know that 'we've arrived'.  

The success that God talks about in the book of Joshua, is not just a badge of honour or an accolade on the wall.  It is a success that only came about by following his God-given purpose, obeying the Father and working hard.  It was the trophy at the end of a very long, tedious journey for forty years.  It was the reward for his labours, for his obedience and for his faith.

We too will have success, but it might not be the kind that is often celebrated in the media, fast cars, showroom houses, and extravagant living.  On the contrary for some people, getting out of bed in the morning and making a cup of tea is success.  For others, battling each day with a terminal illness is success.  And for some, it's struggling with the demons that plague them regularly and maintaining a level of sanity.

There are some who will never achieve success in this life.  They will be considered failures, losers, wasters.  They, like Joshua, may spend their lives, walking around in the wilderness of live, the sidekick of another, in what appears to be an aimless fashion.  But if they have been obedient to the Father, they like the apostle Paul can say, 'I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Now there is in store for a crown of righteousness, which the Lord...will award me on that day' - 2 Timothy 4:7, 8 (NIV).

That's not just the art of success.  That's success!

Father, as we surrender to you, teach us what is means to be successful.