Some of you have been yammering about my mention of my upcoming Success Seminar as commercializing my site. What you don’t understand is that there are WFTD subscribers all over the country and indeed the world and not all of them will be able to attend. I believe that the information that will be shared at the seminar is valuable, and since I’m the one writing this column, I’m gonna write about it. If you don’t like it, get ready to kick your legs in the air, cry, whine, whimper, snivel, and turn red because here is yet another WFTD that contains information that I will share at the Success Seminar this November 4th and 5th.
We often hear: “I just want to be happy, if I could only be happy”. Is being happy a good definition of success? Abraham Lincoln thought that happiness is a state of mind that can be controlled, declaring: “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” It was astute that old Abe recognized attitude as being a key component in attaining happiness, but life consists of happy and sad times. Both are temporary conditions and we’ll taste them equally as we careen through life, (regardless of attitude).
- We celebrate new life and we grieve life taken away
- We are victorious and we go down in defeat
- We laugh and we cry
- We smile and we suffer
- We win and we lose
- We rise and we fall
- We enjoy health and we lose it
- We start out young, thin, and taut, and end up old, fat, and wrinkled
Happiness is merely an emotion that we experience as we go through life and is always temporary. It is directly related to something currently happening to us as individuals. When things are good and we get what we want, we feel happy. On the other hand, when things go bad and disappoint, we feel sad.
Some remain perpetually frustrated because they want to remain happy no matter what. To be successful however is to know peace, joy, and love at all times, even when we transition from happiness into sadness and suffering. Success does not flee from sad times; rather it engages them, just as it does our happy times. Success must be all encompassing, because happy and sad times are both integral parts of our lives.
An excellent illustration of this can be found in the Holy Bible, It states that, “For the joy set before Him, Jesus endured the cross”. Jesus had just prayed so intensely that he actually sweated blood as he lay face down in the Garden of Gethsemane calling upon God to help Him. He was preparing Himself for the painful torture and cruel death that He knew that He would soon willingly endure on the cross. His goal was to take upon Himself the punishment for all the sins of the entire world in order that we might be reconciled with God.
No one in their right mind would think Jesus was happy about knowing that in just a few short hours the incomprehensible agony He was going to endure would begin; however the Bible states that He knew “joy” at this difficult moment.
How could this be possible?
Jesus Christ looked out into the future far beyond His personal suffering and agony. He knew that because of His sacrifice, death would be defeated, and those of us who would choose to follow Him would have the opportunity to enjoy everlasting life. We were on His mind that day as He highly anticipated the new beginning that He would create.
He felt joy, because His children would soon be bathed, cleansed, and purified in His loving glory, healed and made perfect by His blood sacrifice and stripes. And He knew that after it was finished, we could be allowed to enter into His rest and enjoy His gentle peace in paradise for eternity. There His loving grace would erase all tears, sadness, sickness, misery and death and sin would never again stand between His children and Him.
Without question Jesus knew that He would suffer horribly that day, but He didn’t focus on Himself; instead he looked to those whom He loved and to a better day. Even in His darkest hour His absolute love provided Him with sheer joy and incomprehensible peace.
His example should be a valuable lesson to us all.
My family ridicules me for pre-recording football games. After I learn the final score, if my team wins I will watch the game. If they lose I erase it. Tonight I watched the Atlanta Falcons play the Philadelphia Eagles. They looked terrible, made bonehead plays, fumbled, threw interceptions etc. and normally I would be turning red, kicking screaming, cursing, and pounding the couch with my fists, but instead I peacefully munched on some popcorn, sipped my coke and smiled.
Why?
Because I already knew the outcome and the Falcons beat those nasty Eagles!
And so it is with every believer. We can know joy in this crazy evil world because we have read and studied the Bible and we, like our Savior Jesus in His darkest hour, know with absolute certainty that everything will turn out perfectly and stay that way forever.
My friends that is my definition of success and what I believe being a Christian should be all about. Jesus Christ knew peace, joy, and love even though He was in the midst of the darkest of trials. His faith enabled Him to look past His trials at the end result – living in paradise for eternity with all of His children surrounding Him. You will be successful when your faith carries you to that same place.
Romans 8:28
“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”