Are you looking for instant success? Culture tells us that instant success is possible in all things. Young people are seeing the possibility of being a millionaire, or even a billionaire, by the time they’re 25. They’re told it’s easy and all you have to do is be an “influencer” on Instagram, or Facebook, or wherever. If you’re an influencer and if you get enough followers, pretty soon advertisers are going to line up at your door. Yes, instant success may happen for a micro percentage of the population, but for most of us, this is not reality. The sad thing is, this message that culture tells us, can harm us. It can lead us to feel like failures before we even give ourselves a fair shot at success.
For most of us, the freeing and hopeful reality is that success takes time. Success takes discipline. Success takes incredible obedience. Success takes long hours and good work ethic. Success takes looking out to the interest of others by being kind and compassionate to your employees, supervisors and clients alike. If success does happen fast, you still have the incredible challenge of maintaining that success year after year. This is near impossible to do without the aforementioned qualities. How can you maintain something if you are not sure how it is built? Many “instant success stories” have been working their craft dillgienty for years. Many more “instant success stories” lose their success and are forgotten about a few years later, because they do not know how to maintain the success. What an epic disappointment they must feel!
So, what is instant success, really? It is about planning to make each moment an instant success in a small way. We can build small wins each instant at work, whether it is by having a good attitude, or seeking to imitate Christ in each situation. It’s our job to work on growing our character and to submit to the perfect timing of God. This is so freeing! God doesn’t judge you as a “failure” because you don’t have instant success. Jesus never took the road of instant success, and he does not expect it for you.
It can be helpful to remember that our lives aren’t the same as other people’s lives whether it’s famous people, or people who have become instantly wealthy. On the other hand, most of us don’t have lives in third world countries where abject poverty has taken hold, either. We all live in a unique situation and a unique location. God loves us, sees us for who we are, and delights in our unique creation. Our job is to hear his voice. He has a beautiful voice, and if we’ll stop and listen to him we will hear him speaking to us about our legacy, our heritage and our adoption into sonship. I guarantee, this is far more valuable than all the instant success, instant followers, or instant money one could have.
It brings peace and hope to seek the face of God and rest in it; to rest in knowing that we are loved children of God first and all other things will be added onto us.
God is in a good mood. He wants to give to us and see us flourish. He wants us to experience success in the small and large instances. He knows how to help us get there. Will you let him help you?