God Given Success
Pastor Dr Ling
22/11/2009 1051
2Sa 7:9 And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.
1Sa 18:5;12-16 扫罗无论差遣大卫往何处去，他都做事精明。扫罗就立他作战士长，众百姓和扫罗的臣仆无不喜悦。… (12) 扫罗惧怕大卫；因为耶和华离开自己，与大卫同在。 (13) 所以扫罗使大卫离开自己，立他为千夫长，他就领兵出入。 (14) 大卫做事无不精明，耶和华也与他同在。 (15) 扫罗见大卫做事精明，就甚怕他。 (16) 但以色列和犹大众人都爱大卫，因为他领他们出入。
What is success? A successful person is often defined as wealthy, of high position, highly educated, etc. If we measure a pastor in this manner then we will often find pastors to be unsuccessful.
Parents tend to encourage children to be professionals for the potential higher income.
A wrong concept of work can bring a lot of challenges. If we think we are working for money, we will be disappointed and find faults with a lot of things. We may begin to attribute our perceived failures t othe people around us.
Mat 6:24 "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Can Christians be rich? There are many people in the Bible who are wealthy, e.g. Abraham (possessed lots of cattle), Isaac (his crops are 100-fold every year), Joseph (PM of Egypt), Daniel, etc. What about poor people? Examples are Jesus and Elijah.
Jesus accomplished what the Father asked of him. That is how he measured / saw his success.
To be successful in life we need to play our roles in life. Jesus knew he was to obey the Father’s will. David was to serve the people of his generation.
There are rich people who are failure and there are poor people who are successful. Success is not measured by material possessions.
We spend a lot of time at work and so we need to have a correct concept of work. It is not just for making money.
Role 1 – Love God
1. David had a good relationship with God. Our success should be from God.
2. He obeyed God.
3. He served God.
Psa 16:3-4 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. (4) The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.
Pro 10:22 The blessing of the LORD makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.
If we measure our success by money, we may find ourselves to be less successful due to economic downturn. We need to measure ourselves in God’s perspective. Neither should we measure how much we are loved. This is risky as people can change. Jesus healed many but when he asked them to carry their own cross to follow him, not many remained.
Role 2 – In our Work
David served his generations according to God’s will. At that time, a king should be a mighty warrior. David won battles. He also led the people to worship God. He played well his role as the king.
1. God blessed David with talents and acquired skills.
2. David desired to be successful.
3. David did his job well and did not focus on the reward.
4. Play your role as an ambassador of God. Be the light and the salt. Bear a good testimony for God.
Many asked for blessings from God. It doesn’t mean we don’t have to do anything. We need to play our role. After the passing of Moses, God asked Joshua to claim the Promised Land.
Deu 28:11-13 And the LORD will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. (12) The LORD will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. (13) And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them,
Deu 28:20 "The LORD will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me.
Those were the promises of God in the covenant he made with the people.
God blessed David. He was born good looking and confident. He could lead a band of motley crew while he was running away from Saul. He also received the anointing of God through Samuel. He acquired military skills later on. God gives each of us talents. We need to make good use of them.
Parents must recognized the talents in their children and nurture them accordingly. Do not force them to do something incompatible with their talents.
David himself also desired to be successful. He tried to find out the reward before confronting Goliath. It’s normal to desire rewards and to be successful. We cannot allow this to be our primary motive lest we lose track of the main objective of serving God. David waited patiently for God to ‘promote’ him. He didn’t take things into his own hands even when the opportunities presented themselves.
The Bible teaches us that we work not just for money but to serve God.
如果你今天不努力工作，明天你就要努力找工作。
If you don’t work hard in your work today, you will work hard to get a job tomorrow.
Role 3 – Love Others
1. Love your family.
2. Love yourself.
3. Love others, including your superiors.
Provide your family financially. Care for them.
Do not work too hard until our own wellbeing is affected. Do not work for medical fees. When we are on the brink of a breakdown, we cannot love others because we don’t even love ourselves.
Saul was the king of David even after David was anointed to be the next king. Saul flip flopped in his pursue of David. David did not harbor any ill feelings. He acknowledged and respected the people anointed by God. We need to respect our superiors in our workplace.
Do you know?
A candle shines only when lit.
Olive produces oil only when it’s pressed.
Wine tastes good after fermentation.
Parmison becomes sweet and fragrant after wind and snow.
Questions for reflections:
1. Is your perception of success in line with God?
2. What is the result of a wrong perception of success?
3. What is the result of a perception of success according to God’s view?
4. Are you balanced in the 3 roles? Which area is imbalanced?
5. How can you balance them up?
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