I heard this in my quiet time this afternoon: “Never let the success of others be a measuring tool for what is happening in your RIGHTEOUS life. Your breakthrough and the timing of it is unique to you and your destiny.”
Ecclesiastes 3:11a has been a guiding light to me. It says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time.” It comes on the heels of the preceding 10 verses that remind us that there is a time for everything in the life set before us. Subscribe to my podcast, Chamber of the Scribe
The wisdom here is this: We were all created and destined to bloom.
The Obedient Life
When we live in love (passionate, obedient service) toward Christ, Romans 8:28 stands as a banner before us: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
If we allow the success of others to be our compass, we rob ourselves of the beauty of our own process, our own place of BECOMING. Check out this article, “Consider What Success Is To You”
I often say to scribes, “Success is subjective.” It is solely based on how you define success in your life – both outward and inward achievement. And more importantly, success has LAYERS that travel with us throughout life from the beginning of things until their fulfillment.
When we look at it this way, we can easily understand why we SHOULD NOT despise small beginnings (Zach 4:10). In addition, the window to learn from our mistakes open wide as we take valuable lessons from those places and build righteously upon them.
Also, it may lead to understanding that there are multiple kinds of successes we can grab hold of in this life, and from multiple tiers.
For example, I have found great success in where I am today in my emotional and spiritual health. That’s just ONE AREA in my life where I have success goals to maintain. Just 10+ years ago, I couldn’t have made that statement. Nor would it be fair for me to compare my success goals in this area to others. Check out the article, “Consistency: The Dirty Word of Progress”
The same is true for other areas of our lives as well. You see, each step towards a success goal is as much “A PLACE OF SUCCESS” as the final goal.
If we can see things from this encouraging perspective, we can begin the process of putting to rest the torment that arises from measuring our success unhealthily by other people (2 Cor 10:12).
Take A Different Approach
We “must” learn to:
1. Be patient with our success process. Failures are critical catalysts of the righteous journey. We can only be hindered by them if “we allow them” to kill the dream, our efforts and hope.
2. STOP LOOKING. I have talked about this a lot with prophetic scribes. We have to kick the habit of coveting the success of others. Sometimes that means clearing our space of people, places or things that divert our sight.
3. Take success in small bites. This has been a huge help to me in all areas of success in my life. If we can celebrate the small victories, we will appreciate our journey MORE.
4. Understand the beauty of the blooming process. Basically, everyone does not BLOOM the same or at the same time even if they share the same space, vision or hope. As a result, there is no inadequacy here in a righteous pursuit — just a different timeline.
5. Embrace that we are all on different paths. The Lord IS NOT withholding success from you! I really want you to believe that! Achievement is as unique as we are human beings. What does this mean? We can copy what other people are doing exactly and even in perfect unison with them; and still achieve completely different results. (Weight loss programs are an excellent example of this truth.)
Do what is necessary to be at peace with your path — even when the choices have not been that great. Learn from them and keep moving FORWARD!
Understand the Power of Contentment
Work daily to obtain contentment or satisfaction in the completion of tiny and large goals. Remember, they are “literal” steps to your success plan. Check out the article, I AM Not Looking
Contentment positions us to appreciate our process without complaint, and to view the success of others as examples of what we can achieve within our own measure.
So please, give yourself a break.
Do your best.
Stop comparing!
You have many successes to consider and be grateful for – identify them!
Wait for YOUR FLOWER OR FLOWERS to bloom.
Proverbs 16:9, “In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.” Connect with the largest online group for prophetic scribes, Scribal Prophets
