Success in God's Eyes
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Posted: 04/22/07
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Success in God's Eyes
By Thomas E. Brewton
Real success is following God's will, not making lots of money.
Sunday's sermon at the Long Ridge Congregational Church (non-UCC) in
North Stamford, Connecticut, was delivered by Rev. Steve Treash. His
message dealt with success in the things that really matter.
While confidence is, by some measures, thought to be the best
predictor of academic and business success, it too easily becomes
exclusively self-confidence. As with Peter's wanting to walk across
the water to meet Jesus, that sort of confidence falters the moment
we take our eyes off Jesus as our savior. We begin to sink and can
be saved only by calling for the Lord's help.
True success in this life is doing God's will to the best of our
abilities.
The Old Testament story of Joseph in Egypt illustrates the right kind
of confidence that leads to success.
Joseph had endured a string of grave misfortunes. His older brothers
resented his ostentatiously seeking to be their father's favorite
son. The brothers took his bright coat and threw Joseph into a well,
intending to leave him there to die. When a caravan bound for Egypt
appeared, the brothers hauled Joseph out of the well and sold him to
the caravan merchants as a slave.
In that adversity Joseph learned that his real strength came from
having confidence in God and trusting Him to show the right thing to do.
"Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who
was one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard, bought him
from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. The LORD was with
Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian
master. When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the
LORD gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his
eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his
household, and he entrusted to his care everything he
owned." (Genesis 39:1-4)
Potiphar's wife falsely accused Joseph of sexual misconduct with her,
and Joseph was thrown into prison. Once again, Joseph's salvation
was his unwavering confidence in God.
"Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, the place where the
king's prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the
prison, the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him
favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in
charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible
for all that was done there. The warden paid no attention to
anything under Joseph's care, because the LORD was with Joseph and
gave him success in whatever he did." (Genesis 39: 20-23)
The same pattern was repeated and Joseph later became Pharaoh's chief
lieutenant in administrative charge of the Egyptian government.
Throughout all of his ups and downs, Joseph maintained steadfast
confidence that God had a purpose and that he must follow God's
will. This understanding was clearly revealed in the climactic scene
when his famine-stricken brothers come to Egypt pleading for food and
are shown into Joseph's presence.
"Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Come close to me." When they had
done so, he said, "I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into
Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with
yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God
sent me ahead of you." (Genesis 45: 4-5)
Along with confidence in God, we must have resilience, vigilance, and
reverence that allows us to maintain our focus on God's will and to
forgive our transgressors, as Joseph did his brothers.
We must be vigilant to seek God's guidance in keeping to proper moral
standards and in fighting off temptation. The Apostle Paul, writing
to the church in Corinth, reminds them of the historical tribulations
of the Israelites and how God repeatedly delivered them from temptation.
"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God
is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.
But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you
can stand up under it." (1 Corinthians 10:13)
As Paul counseled Timothy, worldly success is not the goal:
"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing
into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have
food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to
get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and
harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the
love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for
money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many
griefs.
"But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness,
godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good
fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were
called when you made your good confession in the presence of many
witnesses." (1 Timothy 6: 6-12)
Thomas E. Brewton is a staff writer for the New Media Alliance, Inc.
The New Media Alliance is a non-profit (501c3) national coalition of
writers, journalists and grass-roots media outlets.
His weblog is THE VIEW FROM 1776
http://www.thomasbrewton.com/
Email comments to viewfrom1776@thomasbrewton.com
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