There
are some things that our world is obsessed with, and success is one of them. Click on Amazon.com sometime and look for books on success. You will find: The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be, Success Is Not an Accident, The Story of Success, The Real Truth about Success: What the Top 1% Do Differently, and on and on and on. These books present their lists of things we must do in our lives in order to succeed in love, relationships, family, business, finances, friendship, and just about everything else. You will find lists filled with hints to be optimistic, passionate, persistent, flexible, educated, and focused or to be open-minded, streetwise, willing to give back, committed to your journey, and ready to change. You will find lots of advice from lots of experts.
Yet the question still is a good question: How does one achieve success? We all would like our lives, our careers, and our relationships to be successful. After all, who wants them to be failures? How can we learn the true steps to success?
We can certainly learn from Eliezer, a little known man in the Old Testament. Eliezer was a servant of Abraham. Abraham was old and wanted to find a fitting wife for his son, so he sent Eliezer on a mission to “go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac” (24:4). Leading a caravan of ten camels, Eliezer set off to a strange land in search of a wife for Isaac. The account is fascinating to read. Five times in chapter 24 we see Eliezer searching for success in his mission.
- “Then he prayed, ‘O Lord, God of my master Abraham, give me success today’” (verse 12).
- “Without saying a word, [Eliezer] watched [Rebekah] closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful” (verse 21).
- Eliezer explained to Laban what Abraham had told him, “The Lord, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you and make your journey a success” (verse 40).
- “When I came to the spring today, I said, ‘O Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant me success to the journey” (verse 42).
- And finally, as he was about to depart for his home, Eliezer said, “Do not detain me, now that the Lord has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master” (verse 56).
Journey completed successfully!
Eliezer knew exactly where to find the recipe for success. It was in the hands of the Lord. Certainly he could have received counsel from experts on how to achieve his goal, but he knew who holds the key to all success. It is the Lord, the one of whom David wrote, “May he give you the desire of your heart and make your plans succeed” (Psalm 20:4). God’s will is for his children to be successful. But true success must begin with faith in the atoning sacrifice of his Son. Jesus told us, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).
True success is not something we can find in books, on computer monitors, or in a psychiatrist’s office. True success is not always measured in things, but in peace of mind and heart. True success can only be found when we place ourselves into the hands of the one who holds all things.
Eliezer’s trip was a huge success. He brought back the wife Abraham had wanted, a beautiful woman who would later become an ancestor of Jesus. Eliezer knew where all success is conceived. He knew that all blessings come down from the Father, who created them all. We should continue to commit to the Lord whatever we do and let the Lord handle the outcome.
Prayer thought: Ask God to grant you success in all your endeavors.
(From the book “Real People: Meditations on 101 People of the Bible” by Reynold R. Kremer)
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