Ingredients for Success
Now that we’re more settled into 2023, I thought I’d share a couple of things you may find useful. Some may have walked lightly into the new year, or relish in expectation and excitement of new beginnings. Then there are some whose fear and hesitance leave them wondering if 2023 will be a repeat of their last year.
I know you’ve seen the funny, yet true and trending meme in social media land: “Me calling God to make sure I’m registered for the Fun and Successful package and not the trial and tribulations package for 2023.” Personally, I’m praying and believing for the Fun and Successful package.
The mention of the word success can leave many giving definitions of all sorts. But can I invite you to lean in a bit closer and examine God’s view of success?
What I want to share with you are tools that will last a lifetime as you consider success from a different perspective.
The story about the birth of Jesus is not just a story we pay close attention to during Christmas. But we can find instruction, hope, insight, and comfort as we go forth in 2023. As you plan or think about your goals, perhaps you can consider and learn from Mary and Joseph - the true ingredients of success that will lead you into the best path and glorify God simultaneously.
1) Be available: God could have chosen anyone to birth Jesus, but He chose Mary. A teenage girl whose heart was pure, kind, teachable. Mary was also poor and perhaps unlikely to be chosen by our standards. But God. He knew, saw, and choose the right person to be the mother of Jesus. Your availability has nothing to do with your bank account, the number of followers or likes. Rather, it has a lot to do with relationship
2) Surrender all: When the angel Gabriel first approached Mary, she was both startled and confused. “Don’t be afraid Mary, for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son of the Most High. The Lord will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his kingdom will never end!...The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will e called the Son of God.” After hearing that, Mary said yes and surrendered all! “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” Mary’s response gives us intel on how to navigate a new beginning. Mary was engaged to Joseph, yet her plans of having a child after marriage was thwarted. Her surrender and submission to God as His servant, gives us indication of her postured heart. Similarly, Joseph had his plans to break off the engagement quietly, 1) after hearing of Mary’s pregnancy. However, God sent an angel to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to tke Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Joseph changed his plans and did as the angel instructed. He too, surrendered what he thought would happen and accepted the new. Mary and Joseph’s life was changed because they trusted God by letting go of their plans and said yes to Him. In this new year, will you hold tightly to your well thought out plans or allow God to give you a divine interruption that is sure to be life-changing?
3) Follow His Instruction and obey: After the birth of Jesus, God sent angels to tell Mary and Joseph the best directions moving forward. Even as a baby, Jesus’ life was in danger because of a jealous king. King Herod knew that Jesus would dethrone him and reign, so he sought to kill him. In the first dream, they were warned not to return to Herod (Matthew 2:12). In a second dream, an angel appeared to Joseph and said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him. Matthew 2:13.
God warned the wise men that King Herod’s desire to worship baby Jesus was steeped in deception. When King Herod found out he had been tricked by the wise men, he ordered all male children in Bethlehem under the age of two, killed. “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children, she refused to be comforted, because they are no more. Matthew 2:18.
God’s instructions are always for our ultimate good and His purpose. When He instructs, will you obey? When Joseph, Mary, and the wise men heard the instruction from God, they obeyed. And their obedience proved to be lifesaving. Trust the One who knows the beginning, middle, and end of your story. Your life can literally depend on it!