September 23, 2021
What Success Actually Looks Like
Holley Gerth
Today’s Truth
“The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’” (Matthew 25:21 NLT)
Friend to Friend
Despite my best intentions, I still eat vanilla ice cream right out of the carton. I sometimes wrestle anxiety like a wild alligator. I feel confused by social media and stressed out by the news. Curled up in bed, I told all this to Jesus one day. And I asked, “What do You want me to picture as success?” It seems the answer that came quietly into the dark was this: faithfulness.
This is not the answer our world would give. We’d be told fame or material possessions, staying young forever or getting to sit at the cool table are markers of success. But in the Gospels, the master doesn’t say, “Well done, my good and famous servant.” He says, “Well done, my good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21, emphasis mine).
This morning I read an endearingly human story about the disciples. Jesus had been crucified. Their lives were in turmoil. They were unsure of what the future held. Peter said, “I’m going fishing” (John 21:3).
Haven’t we all had those days? We throw up our hands and say, “I’m going to get a latte,” “I’m going shopping,” or “I’m going to the gym.” We turn to what we know. The disciples fished all night and caught nothing. Then Jesus appeared, although they didn’t yet know it as Him, and He told them to let out their nets one more time. They caught so many fish, they could hardly handle them all.
This is faithfulness. It’s continuing to cast the net because Jesus says so. Even when we’ve been up all night. Even when we’re weary. Even when we’re confused. Even when we’re discouraged and want to quit. Our role is obedience; God’s role is results.
Eugene Peterson describes faithfulness as, “A long obedience in the same direction.” It’s not cool. It doesn’t make headlines. We’re not likely to get awards, applause, or even an abundance of “likes” for it. But faithfulness is quietly, often invisibly, life altering and world changing.
I want to be faithful to Jesus for a lifetime.
I want to be faithful to use my gifts for a lifetime.
I want to be faithful to my husband for a lifetime.
I want to be faithful to intentionally cultivate friendships with other women for a lifetime.
I used to think that what mattered most was growth. The difficulty with that is we can’t control growth. God alone is the One who makes things grow (see 1 Corinthians 3:6–7). We are instead invited to be faithful, to plant, and to water. Out of that naturally comes growth, but we don’t make it happen. That feels like a weight off our shoulders. One of the keys to peace is not taking on what God has never asked us to carry.
If you’re putting pressure on yourself today to do more, be more, achieve more, then pause and take a deep breath. Just be faithful. If you’re comparing yourself to others and feel you’re falling short, refocus on your own journey. Just be faithful. If you’re striving for perfection and trying to make everyone happy, let go of those unrealistic demands. Just be faithful.
We don’t need big resolutions. We don’t need to check every item off our bucket list. We don’t have to prove our worth. Instead, we can simply say, “Jesus, I will do what I can, where I am, in this moment to love You and others today. Then I will do it again tomorrow.”
That’s faithfulness. That’s powerful. That’s enough for a lifetime.
Let’s Pray
Dear God, thank You that You invite me into faithfulness. You’re a God not of pressure but peace, not of heaviness but hope, not of relentless striving but relationship. I ask for the courage and wisdom to simply do what I can, where I am, with what I have to love You and others today.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
What’s one small way you can love Jesus and others where you are, as you are, with what you have today? Leave a comment and share your response.
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© 2021 by Holley Gerth. All rights reserved.
Originally published Thursday, 23 September 2021.
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