Life Success By Fixing Our Eyes On God

"...in everything David did, he was a success because the LORD WAS WITH HIM.."
- 1 Samuel 18:14

We all want to be successful. Being successful means different things to each of us. As a student, we want to make good grades, as a child, we want to make our parents proud, as a worker, we want to make money and have a good job position and do our jobs well. As a parent, we want to raise good kids. As an adult, we want others to look up to and respect us.

David was a man in the Bible who had a lot of success. He wasn't perfect, but he was a man after God's heart. God blessed his life. I think we all really want a life blessed by God. As I am reading about David and Goliath and the cool things David did, I see that David did not do all this cool stuff on his own strength...I mean, seriously, could he have really killed Goliath with a ROCK without God's help?! I don't think so. David was successful because the Lord was with him; because he was seeking after God and trying to live a life that was pleasing to God.

He wasn't defining his success by the world's standards, but by the Lord being with him. And God used him to impact many people's lives. As a servant of God, David's life was successful because he pointed people toward God.

I have come to a point where the Lord is telling me that in my life, if I don't get anything else accomplished today, if I have truly loved God and pursued Him with my heart, and served Him, then God is pleased with me, and that is success in His eyes. I hope that each of us will remember to fix our eyes on God, and let our lives be used by Him. And we will be successful, not because we're trying so hard and throwing our own stones, but because the Lord is with us, giving us power to kill giants, and power to make a difference in the world.

Lynne Payne
Youth Pastor
Central Christian Church
Van Buren, Indiana