Finding the Glow of Success

Does Success hide from us? A few days ago, I sat at my desk, sipping my morning fruit and veggie smoothie, and with each sip, I delighted in my favorite Bible verses.  

All of them nourished my soul. But when I read this one, the message lingered in my head, urging me to dig deeper.

  “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” (Proverbs 16:3)  

The command is simple with an inviting, promising result. But the word “succeeds” jumped out at me.   What does success mean to the Lord anyway? And what does it mean to me?

The world defines success as a satisfying result and the ability to reach realistic accomplishments. And to us, Christians, success might mean rolling up our sleeves and furiously going through to-do list of doing the work for the Lord. And even exhaustion presses, we keep going, sacrificing our health, our family and our sanity—all in the objective to reach success in our Christianity.  

But if we were able to accomplish all of this, would we then feel successful and satisfied? Or would there always be higher levels to reach, more tasks to accomplish, and more places to go? And before we know it, stress starts all over again.  

That morning as I put down my smoothie, I exhaled a long, deep breath and made a new decision. I would not work for success, but rather, live IN success.  

The process is simple. It begins not as a onetime decision, but a daily habit, a moment-by-moment resolve to commit and hand all over to Him. That includes not only our work, but without reservation, placing before Him everything—our daily attitude, our thinking, our approach to the ministry, our reaction to the good, the bad and the busy. And while there, we also hand over our desires and goals.  

Once all is placed in God’s hands, we take on the tasks, but leave out the stress. Then our plans reach His success because our steps follow His path. Relief washes over us as it always does when we obey Him. That’s when our days have the glow of success, and at night when we slip under our covers, we rest our head on the pillow of peace.

 Janet Perez Eckles dedicates her life to inspiring and transforming her readers and audiences. Her release, “Simply Salsa” invites  a life of celebration by learning to conquer fear and bring joy back once again. www.janetperezeckles.com.