Who or what determines success?

I think it has become ingrained in us that success is something we determine for ourselves based on what society perceives.

We set goals to reach self-forecasted mile-stones that we think will tell us, “Ok, now I’ve made it. I am a success.”

I realized I tend to think this way after I pitched my book to the owner of a Christian retail store in Knoxville, Tennessee.

I’ve recently published a Christian children’s book titled “Vinny and the Rocket.” It’s a book about a child who thinks he needs a rocket to go see Jesus and learns from his mama the incredible truth of where Jesus is and what it means to have a relationship with Him.

My goal was to get it into as many homes as possible.

However, the owner of the Christian store kindly let me know that there is an influx of new Christian children’s book authors competing with well known, established ones.

She added that I’d likely not sell many, if any, of my books there, but she agreed to take four of them on consignment.

Keep in mind that I truly believe God has called me to write this book so children and their families are drawn into a relationship with Jesus Christ.

So after our meeting, I thought about all the other Christian authors who also believe they have been called by God to write a similar type of book.

With such an influx of Christian authors, I asked myself, “How can we all be called and actually be successful in such a competitive market?”

I couldn’t come up with an answer.

So I asked my husband, David, the same question. He had an instant answer.

He simply, yet profoundly, stated that I was basing success on my standards instead of God’s standards.

Ohhh… I had to pause to think about that one.

David added that God’s will may be to reach just one particular person with something an author wrote, and that would be success to God for that writer.

Goodness gracious! I’m married to a wise guy! Uh, that may not have come across properly. What I mean is that my husband is pretty wise.

Scripture says, “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps,” Proverbs 16:9, (NIV).

I realized that I might plan and set goals, which can be so beneficial to helping me stay focused, but maybe I shouldn’t be so set on my plan that I lose sight of the fact that God may want me to redirect my goals because of the actual plan He has.

Basically, I had to take a step back and ask myself, “Am I willing to put in all the sweat and tears required to write a children’s book and trust that God would establish all the steps of my work so that only one child would read the words and then determine to devote his or her entire life to serving God by building His kingdom?”

In that moment I knew I had to let go of any pride that might creep in by letting go of what success looked like to me or society.

I had to surrender my plans and grab hold of God’s guidance every single step of the way.

Regardless of the pursuit, the same can be said for all followers of Jesus who are striving to be successful with their God-given abilities.

Is the ruler we are using to measure success purely a human one, or are we measuring based on the standards of the Ruler of heaven and earth?

Colossians 3:2, (NIV) states it this way: “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

This perspective changes everything!

We shouldn’t base success on numbers needed to reach a particular pinnacle.

If we truly desire to serve God with any gifts He has given us, I don’t think we should use them selfishly.

For me, as long as I know that God is determining what my success looks like, I’ll trust Him knowing that hopefully and prayerfully, at least one little kiddo reads my book and feels such a tug that he or she reaches millions of people for Christ one day that we both get to see in eternity.