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

God gave success just because He wanted to.

Before we can understand what specific plan of success God may have for your life, it’s important to see how God has granted success in the past.

The first example of God giving success to people in the Bible that we will look at is where God granted success just because He wanted to. God’s generosity is clear in His promises to the forefather of the nation of Israel: 

The Lord had said to Abram… “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”  – Genesis 12:1-3

This promise that all the peoples on earth will be blessed through Abram (later renamed Abraham) were of course made true through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Savior.  

God blessed Abraham not because of anything that he did (or didn’t do). God blessed Abraham just because He wanted to.

In the same way, God chose to bless Abraham’s son Isaac and his grandson Jacob, just because he wanted to. Not because of anything they did or deserved, but just because He wanted to. And look how He blessed them:

Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him. The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.  – Genesis 26:12-13

There was no doubt that anyone who encountered Abraham, Isaac or Jacob could fail to see the worldly success that God had bestowed on these, His chosen people. And all just because God wanted to.

Some years later, God gave King Solomon the opportunity to ask for anything he wanted. Solomon asked only for wisdom on how to govern God’s great people. In follow up to that request, God also gave Solomon success and great wealth – just because He wanted to.

Of course, not all examples in the Bible are so extreme, and the granting of success was not always God’s initiative. Remember, it was Jabez cried out to God to enlarge his territory, not God just coming to Jabez:

Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” 

And God granted his request.  – 1 Chronicles 4:9

Today, God may also choose to bless you – even when you don’t ask for it. At that time, it’s especially important to remember these verses:

You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.  – Deuteronomy 8:18-19

God may give success just because He wants to.

Reflection / Application  

1. Can you remember a time in your life where success just seemed to happen? How do you think God figured in that success?  
2. Deuteronomy 8:19 says that God gives the ability to produce wealth. How does this tie in with the saying “Success comes to those who work for it”?   
3. Spend a moment to find where God has given success, and how that relates to your own effort? Can one come without the other?