Success

A lot of the things I write are just personal to me but when God puts something on my heart I try to follow what He wants.  This is 1 of those posts.

In our Bible study this year we have studied “Minor Prophets of the Old Testament part I”.  The last couple of months have focused on David and Solomon.  In 1 Kings 9:1 the Bible says that “Solomon…had achieved all that he had desired to do”.    There is no doubt that Solomon was 1 of the wisest men who ever lived and he did love the Lord.  He was responsible for building the temple, and he used only the best for the Lord but was that all that God wanted him to do or was it just all that Solomon wanted to do?  Was he successful and how was his success measured?  There was a question that we were supposed to answer, “How do you measure the success of a pursuit?”  If I think of that in worldly terms it’s pretty easy:  I achieved my goal, I won the saddle, I got the promotion,  or in special ed. my student met their IEP goals, etc. What about when we look at that in Godly terms?  Ouch!  Not so easy and not so easy to admit that we don’t ask God or seek to achieve on His terms.  

That brings me to this:  What about our kids?  We all say that we just want our kids to be productive and to be happy.  In reality, if we are honest, we want them to be productive, be happy, and do what we have planned for them.  It has taken me 32 years, a lot of prayers, sleepless nights, and tears to come to terms with this.  My happy is not their happy. My idea of success is probably not their idea of success. Through all of the ups and downs of my life and theirs it has finally hit me.  Do their lives look like I pictured for them when they were infants, 6, 10, 15, 20 or even 25 years old?  No, but they shouldn’t.  I’m pretty sure my life may not have been what my parents had planned for me but I have to say it’s been a pretty good life and I feel like I have been productive and happy and I know that my boys are too.  

You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Psalm 16:11

I’m not sure how to get to my point here.  What I want everyone, including myself, to think about is whether we are successful in God’s eyes and to really think about what success is.  A wise and Godly friend of mine shared something with me the other day that I want to share with you from the book “Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World” by Kristen Welch.  “…lasting personal joy is not necessarily found the way the world says it is—through reaching a certain socioeconomic status, having a certain job, buying a certain house, or having a certain amount in one’s bank account.”  Where is your joy?