Matthew 7:24-27 is where Jesus tells the parable of the wise man who built his house upon the rock.
This parable shows that success in God's eyes is about becoming more like Him through obedience to His Word.
The wise man built his house upon the Rock (Jesus). When the rains came, the house stood because the foundation was on the Rock.
When we live for Jesus and obey Him, we become more like Him, and therefore our Foundation is Him. When the storms of life come, we stand strong and are successful because we have become more like Him - He is our foundation.
I believe these storms can be any challenges. When we become more like Him through obedience to His Word, He becomes the foundation of our lives, and if He is the foundation, then He is what supports all things in our lives. This is what a foundation does. There is nothing that is a part of the structure that it does not support.
For these reasons, I believe that this parable teaches that success in God's eyes is about who we are becoming, not what we accomplish. Success in God's eyes is about seeking Him, obeying Him and becoming more like Him in the process. It is about process, not results. If we focus on the process of becoming more like Him, then we will be prepared when the "storms" and challenges come, and when we are prepared in these ways, then we are prepared to perform, because we have invested in forming a foundation that is built on the wisdom, strength and love of God - the Creator of the entire universe. The results take care of themselves because we have invested in adding value to ourselves through becoming more like Jesus. Therefore we are equipped to perform - and as such the results come as a result of being prepared in these ways, along with being surrendered to the Lord which brings His power and strength and wisdom and love to the situation.
When I look at the themes of success found in the Bible, I hear God saying that success is about who you are, because that will affect what you do. The world tells us that success is about results. Sure they say that you need to focus on the process in order to achieve the results you want, but their process is void of the One who adds power to the process. It is void of the One who can accomplish far more than we could ever hope or imagine. It is void of the One who "began a good work on us and will carry it on until completion". It is void of the one Who "has plans to prosper us, and hope us hope and a future".
Therefore,don't define success the way the world does. The world is all about end results. God is about the process of obedience, worship and becoming more like Him. Focus on the process of obedience & worship in all you do. It will relieve the stress that the world experiences when they are all about results. This is because you can't control results, but you can control the process of obedience to your foundation. Let the world stress, while you define success the way He does - focusing on what you can control, and what nobody can take away from you - your obedience to the Savior.
Success is about who we are becoming. It is about becoming more like Him, by seeking Him, trusting Him, and obeying Him, so that He is our foundation. And when our foundation is Him, results take care of themselves.
Now this is not to say that there is not value in winning. One of the purposes in competing is to win. David wanted to beat Goliath, and he did with authority. But what we need to ask ourselves, is what does God value most? Winning, or becoming more like him. If we value winning more than character and obedience, then we will make poor decisions that do not honour God.
If we aren't doing it for God and it's not worth doing.
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