Success

Success means different things to different people. For some it is the acquiring of material things. For others it is climbing the corporate ladder. For many, it is their family life, the rearing of children and successful marriages.

I personally like noted best selling author John Maxwell's description – "Success is a journey".

No matter what you achieve in life, you will always want more. This is why I believe that success can only truly be realized when you have carried out your God given purpose all the way to your divine destiny. And if that isn't taking a journey, then please tell me what is.

Our walk with Christ will take us to places we never dreamed of and sometimes to places we never wanted to go. But to achieve true success in life, we must travel down some pretty tough streets. There is Hurt & Pain Blvd., Disillusion Alley, Betrayal Road, Failure Court and Anger Way.

The great news is that all of those streets lead to Victory Highway where we can exit onto Joy Blvd., Laughter Alley, Peace Road, Happiness Court and Love Way.

So our journey to success is filled with the good and the bad, but through it all, we have victory if we learn life lessons along the way. Our perception of our situation will govern our success in the situation. If you can only see the bad then you will never achieve success.

One thing I have learned over the years is there is a lesson to be learned in everything I encounter. Sometimes the lesson is simply to never do that again, but that can be the most valuable because to repeat could cost me my life or the life of a love one.

No matter how bad a situation may seem, good can come out of it if you see it through the eyes of God. God can and will turn your failures into successes. Ok, you messed up, made a colossal mistake that you think you can never recover from.

In Paul's letter to the Romans, he addressed this fact several times. Paul said "but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" (Romans 5:20) he also stated “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). I love what the Amplified says "We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.

Understanding that not only is everything working for good, it is working together to and for your good. We are so quick to say something is of the devil when things go bad, but it is not always the devil. God is in control of everything if you are living a surrendered life to him. If God has allowed it, He has a plan for it. Because of the grace of God operating in our lives, all things are working to our good simply because we answered the call to walk in His divine purpose for our lives. This is the beauty of the Gospel of Christ, the good news; no matter how bad it is, our advocate, Jesus Christ along with the Holy Spirit will enable us to turn it around. Your role in this is to trust Him and seek His guidance and counsel to get back on the right tract.

As a child of God failure is not an option.

Maybe you are being controlled by what someone did to you, and because of it you won't move forward into the things God has prepared for you. Here's the deal; it's not what happens to you that will determine your success, but what happens in you that counts. Release the hurt and move forward.

True success is not found in achieving the "American Dream". You know, the big house, fancy cars, the bling bling on your finger, these do not make you successful. Do not allow your quest for these things to steer you off the path God has laid out for you.

We have been created in God's image and likeness to fulfill His divine purpose. If at the end of life's journey you hear "well done my good and faithful servant" then true success has been achieved.

In the mean time, continue to do His will and allow Him to use you to share His love in this dark and perverted world, establishing His Kingdom in the places He has called you to, and you are a success.


© Coylette James 2008

Coylette James is the Founder and Chairman of God’s Marketplace Ministries. An author and minister, She tours the country conducting Kingdom Empowerment Seminars teaching Christians how to incorporate the Spiritual things of God with the Natural things of Business to achieve Supernatural Success. www.myspace.com/godsmarketplace