August 19, 2008
Success
The
turnout at the local mission was small (14 people) but it was a time of
blessing. Someone asked if the small turnout was disheartening. Not at all!
You
see, we often use the wrong criteria for success. Success in God's eyes isn't in
the size of the ministry work. It's not in the number of programs. It's not in
how well known a work is. It's not even whether or not a given ministry
survives.
Success
in the eyes of God comes from the fact that we walk in obedience. He alone knows
what the end results of our efforts are to be. We're confident that this
ministry is what God has called us to be doing and that He will bless the work.
If it grows to have 1,000 people in attendance, it's only successful if it's
God's plan. Big or small, we will run with it until God says it's time to stop.
Big or small we'll stop when He says it's time to stop.
The
Scriptures are full of examples of success God's way, and success the world's
way. Only His way is pleasing.
In
the days of Jeremiah the prophet, the Lord called for judgement on the people of
Israel, and made Jeremiah the bringer of the bad news. His ministry was to warn
the people. God gave Jeremiah a very strange command.
God
knew the hearts of the people would not turn. His commission to Jeremiah was to
be a prophet for life and see to all human standards his life wasted. Yet
whatever the world may have thought, Jeremiah was obedient and was a success in
the eyes of God.
Noah
preached his entire life without a convert outside his family. He was a joke as
far as the entire world was concerned. He was a success in the eyes of God.
Saul
was a zealous persecutor of the church. In the eyes of the Jewish community he
was a very successful man. Later in life, after he became known as the apostle
Paul, he writes about his past life:
Yet
he came to know that all he had done outside of Christ was meaningless.
By
the standards of the world Ananias and Saphira were very generous. They sold all
they had and gave most of it to the church. Yet God knew their hearts and they
were harshly punished for their deceit.
God's
barometer of success is strictly obedience combined with a willing heart.
Come
judgement day I think we'll be surprised. There will be founders of mega
churches who will be found wanting in God's eyes. There will be great church
leaders sitting amongst the goats. On the other hand there will be pastors of
tiny flocks that no one ever heard of, and people with tiny obscure ministries
that will be exalted by the Lord.
Every
day, we need to examine our hearts. Is this what I'm to do today God? If the
answer is yes, keep on doing it even if the world (or many in the church) feels
that it's pointless. If the answer is no, it's time to stop, even if we think
we're at the top.
Don't
be frustrated if you're walking in obedience and things aren't quite working out
the way you planned. I have heard an observation from a preacher, which ran
along the lines of "If God ordered it, He'll pay for it." Basically
that means that if it's God's plan, He'll make it work. If it's not, nothing
will make it right.
Our
goal is to please God not man. His ways are not our ways. Why would we expect
His measures of success to be the same as ours.
Until
next time, walk in the path that God has given you. Check it out frequently and
stay the course. He will bless the work, in His way and in His timing.
Be
blessed!
Darrel
Mason