As long as I can remember I have always wanted to succeed. When I was a child, the successful endeavor was scaling the newly erected fence that was put there to keep me in the yard or climbing the next door neighbor’s tree to a higher height. Granted, my endeavors and the measures of my success have changed over the years, but success remains a constant theme – even if I do still get an urge to climb a tree every once in a while.
In our culture we worship success. We are especially fond of the “self-made man,” the one born into humble or adverse conditions yet still achieving greatness through their abilities and hard work. I suppose that’s why I found myself puzzled when I read these words, words that indicate time and chance may be as big a factor to success as abilities or hard work.
"I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all." (Ecclesiastes 9:11, NIV)
Recently I read Outliers, a book by Malcolm Gladwell.* The subtitle of the book is “The Story of Success.” Only the book is not your normal “how you can be a success” book. Gladwell weaves his customary outstanding research into a very interesting read on all the factors involved in success. He shares with us the stories of Bill Gates and the Beatles – focusing on what they have in common that contributed to their success. He takes us through time and space as we examine the Canadian hockey leagues as well as the century’s old practice of rice farming in
…success follows a predictable course. It is not the brightest who succeed…Nor is success simply the sum of the decisions and efforts we make on our own behalf. It is, rather, a gift. Outliers [the exceedingly successful] are those who have been given opportunities – and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them. (Outliers, p. 267)
His conclusion is success is not only about effort and innate ability, but it is effort and ability coupled with the right conditions – conditions often beyond our control – that give rise to success.
If you are like me you find Gladwell’s conclusions, coupled with the words of Ecclesiastes 9:11, almost discouraging. I want to believe my success, whatever it may be, is the result of the choices I’ve made. To be fair, neither Scripture nor Gladwell say my efforts don’t have an impact, but they both indicate circumstances beyond my control will frame any success I have. So as a disciple of Christ, what do I make of that?
First, God is in control of when and where I was born. He knew who my parents would be. He knew the culture into which I was born, and the historical context of my life. He knew the opportunities I would have and the obstacles I would face.
Second, God has a plan for my life. We see that in Psalm 139:16 where the Psalmist talks about the days of lives having been ordained before we were born. We see that in Jeremiah 29:11 where God is speaking to those in exile about the good plan he has for them.
Third, God judges success in very different ways than we judge success. I bet you’ve heard or read, “Whoever has the most toys when he dies wins!” Our culture in preoccupied with manyness and muchness, while God is interested in Christ likeness. When the Bible talks about Jesus being perfect, it is not only talking of him being without sin – but of the perfection achieved in his completion of his mission. We tend to judge our successes through contrast and comparison with others when God’s plumb line is to measure our efforts against his plan for our lives.
“…we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original. (Galatians 5:26, The Message)
So then, I realize these three things:
- God is in control of the things which I cannot control and is fully aware of their impact on me.
- God has a plan for my life. There is purpose behind why, when and where I was born.
- God’s standard for the success of my life is not determined by comparing my life to others. Instead, the measure of my success is found in my completion of God’s individualized plan for me.
With those realizations I can relax about those things that are out of my control, for I know God has not left the circumstances of my life to chance, so I am exactly where and when I need to be. I also need not worry about my life in comparison to the life of another. I am only concerned with completing the course he has marked out for me – not someone else’s course. So I go back to Ecclesiastes for guidance that now seems helpful rather than discouraging.
"Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do. Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun— all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…" (Ecclesiastes 9:7-10, NIV)
I’ll confess I do not understand why the passage refers to our lives as meaningless, but what I do understand from the passage is we are to live. Be glad. Be joyful. Now is the time of God’s favor for our lives. Enjoy living life with your spouse, and whatever you do, do it with all your might. After all, while we cannot control the circumstances into which we were born, we can control whether we make the best of those circumstances or not knowing that to do so, is to fulfill God's plan for our lives. This is success.
*Gladwell, Malcom. Outliers: The Story of Success. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2008.
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