Redefine Success
What if the most successful thing we ever do is found in the still, quiet moments of life that only the Lord sees?
Would that be enough?
To be honest, I think my answer to this question could easily change at any given moment of the day. The battle of wrestling for contentment in all seasons isn’t for the faint of heart. A friend and I were recently chatting back and forth about calling and value - how they’re two totally different things, but when properly understood, compliment one another.
As God’s children, we all have a specific calling - a unique role that only we can fulfill in this world. Whether we’re called to open doors for others, breathe hope into hopelessness, bring freedom to those in bondage, speak to the nations, or shepherd the wandering…our callings and how the Lord leads us to walk them out are as unique to us as our DNA. And yet, whether or not we ever fulfill the calling upon our lives has nothing to do with the value we carry.
Value was determined on the cross. When we understand we are valued because of who we are as God’s children, we are able to walk out our calling with great humility, confidence, joy, and peace - all with nothing to prove to anyone…not even ourselves. But if we don’t understand that our true value is rooted in Christ alone, we’ll spend most of our lives chasing worthiness through striving, performance, fear of failure, perfectionism, aggressiveness, comparison, competition and the like as we run the hamster wheel of chasing value through our calling. We’ll work hard, but at the end of the day, we’ll never feel value from our calling. We’ll feel behind, like we’re not doing enough, like we can’t rest….I’m thinking I don’t need to go on. I can sense this is starting to click.
So what does success look like? Is it measurable? Is it indicative of tangible followers and influence?
To me, success looks like following His Voice - whatever He asks and however He leads. It could mean setting down my phone to look one of my children in the eye; it could mean rearranging my schedule to speak life into the heart of a weary friend; it could mean canceling my calendar for the day to rest in His presence; it could mean traveling across the world to unreached nations….when our value is established in Christ, success becomes very simple to achieve (for the record, I don’t really like this word, but another one isn’t coming to mind).
Success in the Kingdom of God is simple surrender to our trustworthy Shepherd. However big or seemingly unimportant the adventure or ask may be.
I’m curious…what would it look like for you to be successful today through the eyes of the Kingdom? I’d love to know!
Many blessings to you,
Hannah
