The Success of Faithfulness

What defines “success”? Is it reaching certain milestones – like having a career by a certain age, or getting married, or “adulting” by supporting yourself and acting like a mature human being?

The Success Lie

I don’t know how many times over the last 10 years I have calculated how much I’d have to make by year, day, and hour in order to reach certain financial goals. I day-dream almost obsessively about expanding my homesteading (read “more animals”). And I worry over finding a way to make money from my writing so I can spend more time on the occupations I love most – homesteading and writing – and less time working an hourly job.

I listen to the lie that if I can just meet these goals, I will feel successful. I fear the possibility that I might not be able to make these dreams come true, and I fear I won’t be able to stand that. And then I struggle with the frustration, discouragement, and discontent that this super-focus on success brings.

But every time I come to this place, whether I came and left only a few minutes ago or weeks ago – And every time I come to this place, whether it’s as soon as I arrive or after I’ve been sitting in the cold for a while –

My heavenly Father graciously reminds me that “success” is not the calling to which I have been called. [Ephesians 4:1] Making my dreams come true is not the purpose he has for my redeemed life. He has not commanded me to “get ahead.” (And just for the record, ahead of what?)

To what, then, has he called me?

Faithfulness

This is where I remind myself that I exist to bring glory to God. “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” [Romans 11:36 ESV*] And I have been redeemed to live for him. [2 Corinthians 5:14, 15]

What defines “faithfulness”?

It’s obedience. [Romans 6:13] It’s stewarding what God has given me in a way that pleases him. [Matthew 25:14-30] It’s wisdom – skillfully applying his word to my everyday life. This is my calling as a Christian. And it’s all done out of love for the One who loved me and made a way in Jesus Christ for me to stand in his favor always.

What does this faithfulness look like in the hum-drum? As I dust my room, cut down dead flowers for the winter, rake out the dirty bedding from the goose shed, etc.? What does it look like in regard to my dreams?

It means I do the work he’s given me to do today, and I find joy in it because it’s my portion from him. It is literally part of his will for me today.

Faithfulness means I kill procrastination, laziness, self-indulgence, and fear; and embrace my responsibilities. It means I steward my time and resources unto God’s glory and in obedience to his commands. It means I prioritize what he prioritizes.

It means I go forward one day at a time, walking according to his word, seeking his wisdom in each decision, and entrusting my dreams to him.

Fruitfulness: True Success

So what defines true success?

It’s the blessed result of faithfulness. It’s work redeemed from futility and made useful for eternal purposes.

And this fruitfulness seems to me to be two-dimensional in a way. There is the “fruit” of my labor which is immediate: If I practice violin, I will get better at playing it. Goal accomplished.

But then there is the “fruit” which goes deeper: If I practice violin and get better at playing it, I will be that much more of an instrument of blessing when I play for the worship service at church. And I will be offering up both my labor and the fruits of it as worship to my Savior.

I have not yet made time to dig more deeply into other areas of my life where I desire to be faithful and fruitful. But I’m guessing that there is often a surface goal and a kingdom goal.

Here’s my challenge to myself as well as to you: seek the faithfulness that has its eyes fixed on the glory of God and the kingdom goals beneath the mundane. Kingdom goals in your heart; kingdom goals in the building up of fellow believers; kingdom goals in the evangelizing of the lost.

This is the “success” that God calls us to!

How peaceful my heart becomes when I remember again that God has not commanded that I have my career completely figured out by the time I’m 35. He has not commanded that I force myself to have what it takes to run a money-making blog or muscle-up and be a farmer. He has not called me to a life of reaching my next man-made goal. That is not why I am here.

Sometimes this hurts because I desire to see those dreams come true, and I have swallowed so much of the lie that I can’t be happy unless I attain them. Those are the times when I realize just how far I am from living faithfully.

I find peace in realizing that no matter what “option” my Father has chosen for my future, it is simply a mode for the success of faithfully bearing fruit unto my God. It helps me wait a little more contentedly and step forward with a little more of the confidence born of humility, to see whether my dreams and goals are part of “the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” [Psalm 139:16 ESV*] Or whether he has entirely different (and good) plans!

I might not be saving lives at my job, or creating cutting-edge technology.

I might not have a “career” figured out yet.

I might not be directly engaged in the beautiful work of raising the next generation.

But my labor can be truly fruitful.

How?

As I am faithful to the One who created my life and my work in the first place and died to redeem me from the curse of futility.