Does God promise us success in this life?

1 Samuel 16:7The Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

God’s standards differ greatly from our own. Success is measured by faithfulness and fruitfulness, not by results and quantities. It is a spiritual, not a numerical assessment. Too often we measure success in terms of appearances and externals, but the Lord looks at our hearts. God measures success not by prestige, possessions, or power, but by weighing our motives, our devotion, and our commitment to him.

1 Kings 3:10-14The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom. So God replied, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people with justice and have not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies—I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have! And I will also give you what you did not ask for—riches and fame! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life! And if you follow me and obey my decrees and my commands as your father, David, did, I will give you a long life.”

1 Kings 4:25During the lifetime of Solomon, all of Judah and Israel lived in peace and safety. And from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, each family had its own home and garden.

1 Kings 8:15-21“Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who has kept the promise he made to my father, David. For he told my father, ‘From the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have never chosen a city among any of the tribes of Israel as the place where a Temple should be built to honor my name. But I have chosen David to be king over my people Israel.’” Then Solomon said, “My father, David, wanted to build this Temple to honor the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. But the Lord told him, ‘You wanted to build the Temple to honor my name. Your intention is good, but you are not the one to do it. One of your own sons will build the Temple to honor me.’ And now the Lord has fulfilled the promise he made, for I have become king in my father’s place, and I now sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised. I have built this Temple to honor the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. And I have prepared a place there for the Ark, which contains the covenant that the Lord made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.”

How God dealt with Solomon is not a blueprint for our gaining wealth and health by asking God for wisdom. Even wisdom, as Solomon’s life demonstrates, is not ultimately a guard against sin, especially if it is ignored. But real commitment to God may open doors to success that we could never predict.

2 Corinthians 3:4-5We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God.

We know that real success is measured by the things that last beyond this life. This kind of success can only come from God.

1 John 2:15-17Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

Success in this world can mean failure in God’s eyes. While we live in this world, we are not controlled by this world’s system of values. God promises that if we do his will, we will have true success.