Do you measure your worth by the amount of your success in life? Do you look at other people’s success and feel that you just don’t measure up?
This is such an easy trap to fall into, especially as parents.
Here’s a fascinating thought: God doesn’t measure our worth by our successes, but by our faithfulness!
In fact, many of the heroes of the Bible are people who didn’t have great success. Rather, they are people who stayed faithful to God.
I tend to measure my worth based on my “success”. That is why this article, written by Pastor Wayne Muri, was so encouraging to me:
“God didn’t call us to success but to faithfulness.”
Can you imagine preaching for 120 years without ever convincing a single person to trust God? Noah did. No doubt he felt like a failure even though he got the boat built.
Jeremiah spent his life time trying to call Israel to God, to no success.
Elijah came off of Mt. Carmel after a stunning display of God’s power, but when Jezebel defiantly threatened his life he hightailed it into the wilderness and sat on the side of the mountain–feeling like a miserable failure.
Most of all, though, I think of Jesus who wrapped up his earthly ministry efforts with 120 followers sitting in a locked room scared to death. No mega-church movement. Just a pitiful few. By our standards not much of a success.
God doesn’t demand the same of all of us. Some he loads with talent and opportunities (like Peter and Paul and Charles Spurgeon) and others he calls to serve in remote places or in hidden ways. Of the twelve Jesus personally trained, we know almost nothing about nine of them. And yet their place is secure in the kingdom of heaven. We know that from the Book of Revelation.
God calls you to influence your neighbors, not the nation, for Christ. He calls you to raise Godly children, not a godly community. In the work place he calls you to be salt and light, not company chaplain.
He calls us to let our light shine before men wherever we are. He does not call us to ignite movements or launch revivals or lead the masses. He calls us to be faithful with our one or two talents.
If you do that, God will use you in ways you are totally unaware of.
How exciting it will be in heaven when he shows you the amazing results he accomplished through your humble faithfulness.
How about you? Have you been measuring your worth by your success or by your faithfulness? Where has God called you to be faithful today?