Day 3: When Success Wears the Mask of Failure

“You must determine what success is to you.”

The words my friend spoke didn’t seem revolutionary at the time.  We were meeting about my future as a writer.  I wrote a lot of words from that meeting.  This statement was not one of them.  I didn’t realize the importance at the time.

The words needed time to simmer.

My husband is a firm believer in eating lasagna and chili on the 2nd day it’s cooked rather than the first.  The day it is prepared the spices haven’t had adequate time to become entwined with each other to create new flavors.  The 2nd day the flavor is full of life and can be better appreciated.

So it is with words of wisdom that become tucked away.  We hear them but they haven’t had proper time to penetrate through layers of understanding, doubt, curiosity and confusion.

I answered my friend that day with true sincerity.  “Success is encouraging just one heart to draw closer to Christ.  To impact just one person for eternity.  If I write and it only impacts one person, it’s worth every ounce of time, energy, and money I exert.”

“You should be just fine then.”

The Lord has brought this conversation to mind repeatedly as He has reminded me why I write.  To make Him known.

You see the comfortable place for me to be is writing is in the privacy of my harddrive.  When I post my private thoughts in this ultra public place, I’m leaving what feels comfortable and exposing myself.  Showing all the ways I am failing.  Setting myself up for embarrasement.  It’s highly uncomfortable.

But the Lord challenges me with this:  “What is success to you?”

Success in the eyes of the world doesn’t match to eternal success.

When we leave our comfort zone, we must throw success out the window.  Because to succeed for Kingdom work can look an awful lot like failure to the world.

In what area do you feel the Lord calling you to get uncomfortable?

[box] This is Day 3 in a series, 31 Days to Get Uncomfortable With God. Please click here for a listing of all posts in this series. If you would like posts delivered to your inbox, please click here.[/box]