Leadership: What Are God's Promises for Your Success?预览

Introduction

In this series of readings, we are going to dig through the Bible to find what it has to say about success – and especially as that applies to your working life and material results.

Finding what the Bible has to say about this will answer many questions around the topic of success, including: 

• Does God want me to be successful at work?    
• What does God’s plan for my success look like?    
• Are promotion & growth part of God’s plan?    
• How can I achieve it?

You may have wondered about one or more of these questions yourself, or have others to add to the list. So now, we’re going to dig into the Bible – God’s Word – to find out exactly what His success for your working life looks like, and how you might best achieve it. 

In doing so, we’re going to look at a number of examples, where God gave his blessing and bestowed success for all to see. Then, we’ll check the various promises of success scattered throughout the Bible, and see what God’s plan is for those in your life today. 

Let’s start our series by thinking of the most successful people in the Bible. Who would you put on this list? Take a moment just now to close your eyes and come up with the three persons who might qualify for this…

Did you come up with three examples? It’s a bit of a difficult exercise, isn’t it? After all, there are so many men and women in the Bible who were specifically blessed by God, and in so many different ways. And, putting someone on the list depends on the definition of “success,” doesn’t it?  You might have included any of these people:    

• Abraham – material blessings & God’s promise    
• David – victory in battle    
• Solomon – great wealth & wisdom    
• Elijah – persistent obedience    
• Job – faithfulness & commitment    
• Esther – boldness & results    
• Mary – bravery & willingness to serve    
• Jesus – perfection    
• Peter – overcoming weakness to lead

Obviously, God’s plan for success was different for different people. In the same way, God’s plan for your success is specially designed for you also. 

As a side note, just as you wouldn’t compare people in the above list to see who was “more successful” than another, you also shouldn’t do that for yourself today either. God’s plan for your success is as unique and individual as you are.

You may already be familiar with today’s scripture reading: the Prayer of Jabez. Some years ago, this verse gained broad popularity as an expression of God’s desire to grant material blessing as a measure of success to those He loves. But, as we shall see, God’s plan for your success is likely not quite as simple as that.

While it may be true that God wants to grant you success in your daily work that can be measured by an “expansion of your territory,” let’s close today’s reading with a version of the Prayer of Jabez personalized to the specific blessings for success that you might seek from God:

“Oh, that you would bless me and _________________________________! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” – 1 Chronicles 4:9a

Reflection / Application   

1. When you think about characters in the Bible who were blessed by God, who comes to mind? What type of success did they achieve?    
2. What measures of success have you already seen in your work? Do you see these as blessings from God?    
3. As you pray the Prayer of Jabez, what replaced Jabez’ request of enlargement of his territory in your prayer?