The Ladder

The proverbial "Ladder of Success" can be a very elusive thing indeed. While climbing it to the top is a challenge in itself, just finding it can be overwhelming. Many have simply given up ascending to the top and settle for less than they had dreamed. Others still have given up dreaming altogether, believing the ladder has been denied them.

We accept the diminished capacity of our lives saying things like, "Times are tough" or "There just aren't any opportunities" or we lay the blame on others insisting they are holding us back because of our color or gender or whatever. Whatever the reason, the result is the same: We settle.

Some settle for what they would say is good enough and others settle for far less than they had hoped, while some are just trying to survive. Many give up the struggle and look to their family or the government to take care of them, becoming lifelong dependants or wards of the state. Some just take to the streets looking for handouts and places to sleep - they simply check out of normal society.

What is so sad is that we are not created to settle or give in or give up. We were created for greatness: "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?  You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor" (Psa 8:3-5).

God has sown the seeds of glory and honor in our hearts, not so that we may become proud or arrogant but that we might accept our place at the table as sons and daughters of the Most High. When we settle instead of stretch, we deny our calling to soar instead of sink.

The problem is that our definition of success and the power to succeed are misplaced. Success is not accumulating a certain amount of money or level of education or job status, success is being who God called you to be, doing what he called you to do, advancing the boarders of the kingdom where you  live and serve.

Was Jesus ever rich, were his apostles or prophets or so many other of very noted servants of the kingdom?  Not particularly, but they were successful indeed. While we tend to view success through the lens of materialism, Jesus plainly warns us: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal" (Mt 6:19-20).

And when we Lise. To our Lord, "Seeking first the kingdom of Gid and his righteousness, all these things [material needs] are given to us as well" (Mt 6:33). The point isn't how much you gain in personal wealth or power or prominence, it is accepting God's claim on your life and living it fully for him. When we do that, we are succeeding and we will reach the very top of the ladder of success in glory. There is nothing to compare. There is no real substitute. Jus' Say'n.