What We Need to Succeed

Theme:  God’s power plus our diligence equals victory.

Text:  Psalm 42:1-2, 1 Samuel 13:14, 1 Samuel 16:14-23, 1 Samuel 17:34-37

Here’s a thought:  Where you go in the hereafter depends on what you go after here.

The greatest achievements in life are usually accomplished by people with a singular desire that becomes the ruling passion of all they do.

Bob Feller was born in 1918.  He loved to throw a ball when he was a child.  When he was 5, he spent hours every day pitching through a hole in the barn wall.  At 10, his father bought him all the necessary equipment and provided him with a playing field on the family farm.  At 13, he pitched for a local team and averaged 20 strikeouts per game.  At 17, he began playing for the Cleveland Indians.  As a major leaguer, he had six seasons as a 20-game winner, three no-hit games, 11 one-hitters, 266 wins, and set a record of 348 strikeouts in one season.  He is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Bob Feller had one desire:  baseball!

A similar focus and determination can be seen in every follower of Jesus Christ, whom God has used.

To be successful, we need to have:

Passion

We cultivate passion by connecting in relationships with God and people.  I am grateful to speaker and author David Irvine for articulating the balance that you and I must strike to succeed in life - a balance between connection and achievement.  Connection describes the relationships with our God and the people we are called to build.  Achievement represents the mission or task that you and I are to fulfill with our lives.

“My boy,” asked the father kindly, “don’t you want to succeed in life as I did?”

“Well, I don’t know,” the son replied slowly.  “You were raised in the country and worked and scrimped so you could go to the city.  Then you slaved to own a house in the city.  Then you just about killed yourself so you could buy this house in the country.  I think I’m better off staying here than killing myself making that round trip.”

With what level of passion do you feed your relationships?  For most couples, passion lasts for 2½ years.  You can usually tell those couples in a restaurant who are new in their relationship from those who are not.  For love to last and to continue to grow, it must move beyond that first romantic frenzy into a warm intensity of deep friendship.  Many start off well, beginning passionately in their relationships with God and people.  The problems begin when they start to let weeds grow in the garden of their relationships - weeds of unforgiveness, distraction from other pursuits and neglect.

In 1 Samuel 13:13‑14 King Saul of Israel let the weed of people-pleasing turn into disobedience of God:

       13 “You [King Saul] acted foolishly,” Samuel said.  “You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. 14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.” NIV

Forty-five years before the nation of Israel crowned him as their king, David was identified as a man after God’s own heart.  He served his God and people well as a musician, leader, and warrior.  He fell into sin by committing adultery and murder, but David was still referred to in the New Testament as a man after God’s heart.

Whether connecting in relationships or achieving an enormous task, our desire and resolution count.  Abraham Lincoln pointed this out to a young man, Isham Reavis, who had written Lincoln for advice.  This is Lincoln’s reply:

My dearest Sir:

       I have just reached home and found your letter.  If you are resolutely determined to make a lawyer of yourself, the thing is more than half done already.  It is but a small matter whether you read with anybody or not.  I did not read with anyone.  Get the books and read and study them till you understand them in their principal features, and that is the main thing.  It is of no consequence to be in a large town while you are reading.  I read at New Salem, which never had three hundred people living in it.  The books, and your capacity for understanding them, are just the same in all places.  Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing.

What does a heart of passion for God look like?  David did not write Psalm 42:1‑2, but it does describe the kind of heart for God that David showed:

       1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.  When can I go and meet with God? NIV

What a vivid picture of passion for God!

How do you develop a passion for someone or something?  Jesus teaches and encourages us in Matthew 6:20‑21:

       20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure [storeroom] is, there your heart will be also. NIV 

Where you go in the hereafter depends on what you go after here.

Do you want to know where your passion is?  Look at what captures your attention.  Consider what you want to occupy your mind.  Who and what do you think about the most?  Where do you spend your time outside of work responsibilities?

Do you want to shift your passion to God and His priorities?  If you answered yes, move your attention to His Word, studying Him and His ways much like a new friend would.  Move your attention to the people He has given you to love, asking them questions and discovering what is happening in their lives.  As you do this, your passions change to eternal matters.

To be successful, we need to have:

Passion

and

Practice

We cultivate achievement by honing our skills to become our best.  15 years before he became king of Israel, David’s musical skills were becoming known amongst King Saul’s advisors in 1 Samuel 16:14‑23:

       14 Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him. 15 Saul’s attendants said to him, “See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the harp.  He will play when the evil spirit from God comes upon you, and you will feel better.” 17 So Saul said to his attendants, “Find someone who plays well and bring him to me.” 18 One of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the harp.  He is a brave man and a warrior.  He speaks well and is a fine‑looking man.  And the LORD is with him.” 19 Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” 20 So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul. 21 David came to Saul and entered his service.  Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armour‑bearers. 22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him.” 23 Whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play.  Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him. NIV

How do you suppose David became known as a fine harp player?  Do you think he spent much time chasing the girls or going out with the guys?  He demonstrated a lot of self-discipline early in life, practicing his instrument for long hours, singing, and playing to the Lord while watching the sheep in the pasture.

Here is how Japan replaced the United States as the leader in the television, stereo, auto, and electronic production industries:

       While the acceptable norm for unacceptable products in the United States was 50,000 per million, the Japanese set out to reduce that number, cutting it down to 200.  They are still trying to reduce that number.

A sign in an office reads, “The easiest way to make ends meet is to get off your own.” 

David was not only a fine musician, but he was also successful as a young warrior.  1 Samuel 17:34‑37 describes his conquests as a young shepherd:

       34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep.  When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth.  When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”  Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you.” NIV

David succeeded as a musician and warrior by combining God’s power with his diligence.

David sharpened his skills.  He did not waste his time when he was out tending the sheep as a young man.  He sang praises to God and built a relationship with his Creator.  He also sharpened his musical skills on the harp and his battle skills on the slingshot.  David knew the balance of “anointing” and “excellence.”  One does not exclude the other. 

What gifts and aptitudes do you have?  What don’t you have?  Work to be the best you can be in your areas of strength.  We are responsible for doing well with what we have been given, not with what others have been given.  How do you develop these areas?  Practice!  Use it or lose it!

George W. Truett (1867-1944), a well-known pastor, was invited to dinner in the home of a very wealthy man in Texas.  After the meal, the host led him to a place where they could get a good view of the surrounding area.  Pointing to the oil wells punctuating the landscape, he boasted, “25 years ago I had nothing.  Now, as far as you can see, it’s all mine.”  Looking in the opposite direction at his sprawling fields of grain, he said, “That’s all mine.”  Turning east toward huge herds of cattle, he bragged, “They’re all mine.”  Then, pointing to the west and a beautiful forest, he exclaimed, “That too is all mine.”

He paused, expecting Dr. Truett to compliment him on his great success.  Truett, however, placing one hand on the man’s shoulder and pointing heavenward with the other, simply asked, “How much do you have in that direction?”  The man hung his head and confessed, “I never thought of that.”

What direction is your life headed?  Does the overall purpose you are pursuing have eternity’s values in view?  If it does not, I urge you to change your direction.  If it does, rely on God’s power and give yourself diligently to it.

To be successful, we need to have:

Passion

and

Practice

God’s power plus our diligence equals victory.