Dearly beloved in Christ,
I greet you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Man desires to have success in everything he does. When this does not happen, and everything stands still, one gets depressed in failure. This makes one lose interest in going to church or to read the Bible or in praying. The Lord alone makes things happen. “For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (Psalm 33:9). But we hear youth who are qualified say that they have become desperate after having made every effort seeking a job. There are several people who seek to start an enterprise for which they need land, licence, labour force and other requirements which put them to severe strain and in the end, they give up in despair. Others seek employment in a foreign land and in the process, they wait and wait for months and years, and are heart-broken. Many expectations of marriage or job are not fulfilled. Such struggles in life lead to desperation, hopelessness, and tears. They are put to untold difficulties. All their imaginations and expectations of a job and of being useful to the family, get shattered. All their efforts end in vain. Dear Brother/ Sister, are you worried that nothing happens in the way you expected? Would you like to know what is wrong with you and what is the way out? Just examine yourself and the way the Lord God offers. Listen. There is one God who works more than we think or expect. The Lord God Jesus Christ will do a miracle in your life. All that you desire, He will make them happen. You will be a blessing.
“So about three thousand men went up there from the people, but they fled before the men of Ai.” (Joshua 7:4)
Joshua, the man of God, was leading the people of the Lord. There were many hurdles in the way. With the strength of the Lord, he could shatter them. But he could not capture a small town named Ai. He approached the presence of the Lord with the question why he met with failure in capturing the town. He had received the promise of the Lord: “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you” (Joshua 1:5). As he failed in his mission, he cried in the presence of the Lord. Dear child of God, are you not anxious about things that could not be accomplished? Now examine yourself. Those who were with Joshua trespassed the word of the Lord and sinned. They had cursed things in their boundary. Because of that, their efforts ended in failure. An easy thing became impossible for them.
Once a Presbyter of a church asked me to pray for a family that belonged to the congregation after a worship service. They had a business house in the same place. They were greatly helpful to the church. They used to participate in all the worships with enthusiasm. That was how that family was introduced to me. But they had met with failure in the business and incurred loss. After praying for that brother, I asked what he had in his shirt pocket. He replied that he had nothing but a calendar. When I asked him what it contained, he took out a small copper sheet with writings on it. I asked him the purpose it served and how he got it. He said that he had paid a price to a man and got it from a man long back for success in business. I told him that as long as he had it, the Lord would not make things prosper in his hand. I counselled him to remove it. As people have cursed things with them, they meet with failure. Things will not prosper for them.
2. Pride
“And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” (Genesis 11:4)
“And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.” (Genesis 11:6)
“So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.” (Genesis 11:8)
Many do things for their own glory. Whatever you do for your pride and glory will not prosper. With it would crop up several things of ignominy and anguish. The Bible says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble”’ (James 4:6). Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonian king was strolling on his palace. He said, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” (Dan. 4:30). Immediately he was dethroned and lost his human identity. The Lord of lords does not like pride. But we do find many people living in pride. Some take pride in their demeanour, complexion, beauty, possessions, and their status. Some are proud of their dress. Some are proud of their strength. Goliath, a Philistine, challenged the Israelite army because of his stature and strength. The soldiers of the Israelites were terribly afraid of him. But David was undaunted and went with a catapult or sling and stones. With that he attacked him and killed him with his own sword. “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They have bowed down and fallen; But we have risen and stand upright” (Psalm 20:7, 8). Let us not give room for pride in what we do. But let us thank the Lord from the depth of our heart for all the good things we have received from Him like good qualification, job, family, wealth, etc. Let us not give room for pride.
3. Satan
“Therefore we wanted to come to you—even I, Paul, time and again—but Satan hindered us.” (1 Thess. 2:18).
Satan sometimes acts against our interest and therefore we fail to achieve the results expected. He roams around us to hurt us and spoil our interests. One brother cultivated in his land and tried various measures to achieve results, but all his attempts failed. The plants would grow well but afterwards would wither. He could not understand why it was so. Then one day he began to seek the Lord in prayer and fasting. Then the Lord showed him in a vision the evil spirits operating there. The very next day he went to his field and prayed for protection from those spirits and rebuked them. Then there was no such problem that he had experienced. Thus the evil spirits operate against us scheming without our knowledge. Some would apply for jobs that seemed to suit them and their qualification. They would be called for interview. But there would be delay and there would arise other problems. Satan thus operates behind the scenes to bring about disaster in our life. Things do not happen the way they ought to. Once a family gave me a prayer request. They packed food cooked at home and supplied them to certain canteens in some factories. They supplied foods cooked freshly every day. But when the officials examined them there would be some insects in them. It became problematic. They could not find out the reason how it all happened. They had to stop their business. Later they found out that this happened because of the evil acts of a labourer who left them. The evil spirits work against many persons and they end up in disaster and defeats. Difficulties in building houses and in settlement of marriages and the like happen because of the devil working against us.
4. Acts Against Ministers of the Lord
‘“No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord’ (Isaiah 54:17).
Things done against ministers of the Lord have become very common today. Some work for the government, some for factories and they have certain rights and privileges. Some work in the defence forces. If anything happens against them, the establishment itself takes responsibilities for their wellbeing. Similarly, the ministers of the Lord are protected by the Lord Himself. Those who work against them will face defeat. No weapon against them will prosper.
Daniel was falsely accused and he was to be killed by his enemies by being put into a den of lions. He belonged to a different country and place. The local people were jealous of him and they did not want him to rule over them. So they charted a plot to get rid of him. They forgot God’s decree that it will be done to them the same way they did to others. They were all put into the same den of lions and their end was miserable. Dear Brother/ Sister, do not rise up against any servant of God. Do not accuse them. Do not level charges against them in a court of law. It is the righteousness of God that you will not succeed.
1. Commit to Live with Trust in the Lord
“Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” (Psalm 37:5).
Man has different hopes and beliefs. Place your trust only in the Lord. ‘For I will surely deliver you, and you shall not fall by the sword; but your life shall be as a prize to you, because you have put your trust in Me,” says the Lord’ (Jer. 39:18). “Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; But he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him” (Psalm 32:10). There are many people who trust in their riches and as a result are put to untold difficulties. When we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and walk in His ways, He will make things happen in our favour. Paul the Apostle declares: “For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day” (2 Tim. 1:12). We will also be in a similar way protected by Him and we would have success in all that we do.
2. Seek His Presence
“He sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God; and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.” (2 Chronicles 26:5).
People undertake pilgrimages to holy places to be successful in life. They spend a lot for attaining success in things they consider important. They want their efforts to be crowned with success. But they fail to see Jesus Christ the Lord and the living God. The Bible says that the king Uzziah sought the Lord truly and he had success in all that he did (2 Chr. 26:5).
Once we had been to Hong Kong for ministry along with two others. I went there according to the leading of the Lord. We did not know anyone there. So we visited the pastors of the churches there till the evening of Saturday. Then we got into a situation to tell them why we came there. Then at the end we decided to give up our efforts and to seek the Lord in prayer at night time. Then we went to bed. We did not know any way to do ministry. The next day being Sunday, we decided to attend a church where they would worship in English. We approached the pastor and told him about our identity and asked his permission to give message in the worship. He simply refused. We had doubts about our dress. If we had dressed in good attire, perhaps he might have given us permission. We were seated in the last row of the church. In the worship, the pastor welcomed ministers from Australia, England and America. Just before the message time, a song was sung and he was preparing for the message and was praying. All of a sudden, he came to me, seated at the end, and asked me to share the message and told me that he would translate. That worship was greatly blessed. That helped us to go to China and minister there too, by the grace of God. For you to be successful in life, decide to seek the Lord.
3. Meditate on the Word of the Lord
“But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.” (Psalm 1:2-3).
Whatever we desire and are interested in, we do with fervour and enthusiasm. In it our heart is focussed. In my young age, I had a lot of interest in fishing. Even though mother would warn me against going near water, my mind was fully engaged in thinking about the fishing rod, the cord, the bait and other requirements for fishing. I would buy them and keep them in hiding. I would buy hundreds of fishing hooks, both small and big ones, to catch fishes of different sizes. All the money given to me for snacks I would spend on fishing because I loved fishing. Our mind is fixed on things we love. If we desire the Word of the Lord and seek to meditate upon it with avidity, we would be different from other worldly people. We will be filled with good qualities and good fruit. More than that, all that we do will be successful. I know a person. He would at all times keep meditating the Word of God. I have seen him to be successful in the job he did in government and also in the ministry. Let us not read the Bible for the sake of reading, but read it with all our heart and give room for meditating it. We will be successful. All things will happen as we desire.
4. Keep the Lord with You
“The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph’s authority, because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.” (Genesis 39:23).
Joseph was hated by his brothers and was put into a pit and then sold as a slave. There was no one to enquire about him or love him. He was taken to another nation. He was haunted by loneliness, emptiness and anguish. He was like an orphan in this world. There was no one with whom he could share his worries. But the Lord was with him. Dear Brother/ Sister, you may be subjected to defeats, and worries, the Lord Jesus Christ loves you and wants to be with you and make things prosper in your hand. Those who see you would witness that the Lord is with you. Just open your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says: “The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand” (Gen. 39:2-3). In the same way, He will do a miracle in your life also.
Would you give room for the Lord to be with you and to be a sanctuary for the Lord to reside with you? He says, “. . . I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). Today accept Jesus Christ and commit to live in His way. He will make things prosper in your favour.
May the Lord bless you!
In the service of Christ Jesus,
Bro. C. Ebenezer Paul.