Sometimes success can be your worst enemy.
Success, getting what you want, can be good, especially when it results in the flourishing of those connected to your life. But success can be toxic when it comes at the expense of those around you. Success becomes your enemy when you hold on to it, become afraid that you can’t maximize it, or exceed it, or live up to it in the long term.
Success – good and bad – reveals your “why.” Do you ever stop to reflect on what is your why? Do you take time to contemplate on what success is for you? Where does your why come from? Is your why worth it? Who wins if your why is successful?
We see in the gospel of Jesus (according to the disciple Mark) that Jesus was crystal clear about his why, about what success meant for him and those connected to him. For Jesus, success was traveling to Israelite villages preaching the good news of the arrival of God’s kingdom while driving out demons and healing the sick. “That is why I have come,” Jesus stated, to his disciples.
It’s interesting that following a long night of driving out demons and healing those with various diseases in Capernaum, while still hungry and exhausted, he slipped out of the house while everyone was still asleep. “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Success has it’s draining cost and distracting temptations. You can probably relate.
Following the mass-healing in Capernaum, Simon sought out an exhausted Jesus, excitedly telling him that “everyone is looking for you!” The implication being: we’re successful, let’s set up shop here and make the most of it. This was the kingdom breaking in, let’s set up the kingdom right here, right now!
But that is not why Jesus came to preach and heal. He came to announce the arrival, to embody the arrival, to evoke allegiance to the arrival. He didn’t come to establish the kingdom according to the imagination of everyone else. Jesus knew his why, and he wasn’t going to let others hijack it, nor let success derail it.
Have you ever wondered, what did Jesus pray when he got away to a solitary place? As a Jewish male, in first century Israel, he would have likely prayed daily the Shema, probably the Amidah, many of the Psalms (like 100, 145-150), and I wouldn’t be surprised if Jesus included the Lord’s Prayer.
Sometimes we think prayer is always asking God for stuff. For safety, for security, for success. But for Jesus, prayer was about presence. It is about being present with his Father, the one who revealed his why to him, who sent him with his why to embody the healing gospel to the children of Israel.
Prayer can be that for us; a time and a place where we dwell with the Lord in silence, with his Scriptures. In that way, we will discern our why, we can gain clarity on the why we are sent with, and how to stay connected to that why when success tempts us.
Feeling frustrated that you haven’t achieved success yet? Don’t make success your idol. Let success flow out of your why, and let your why flow out of your prayers. A why that emerges from dwelling on the Lord’s Prayer, or Psalm 145 would be a powerful why in the world.
Sensing that success might be one of your enemies? Becoming afraid that your past success can’t be repeated or exceeded? Reconnect with your why, with why Jesus has sent you to this place and time. Start your mornings with him. Be reminded of why you were sent here: for the flourishing of all.
Let me know if you want to learn how to pray as a way to learn your why and join Jesus in his gospel-work in the world.
