What is Success?

First off, I offer my apologies. I started this blog last December with the intent of sharing the lessons the Lord teaches me as I grow into the woman He is calling me to be. So many events have taken place in my life over the course of the last six months and the LEAST  I can do is share the goodness He has bestowed upon me. I can truly say that I've grown in wisdom over the past months because of Christ constantly interceding in my life and showing me the right way. I am now currently living out the promises the Lord made to me almost a year ago. I am living in Manhattan, New York interning at the number one investment bank in the nation. As I sit here and type this I still can't fully grasp the fullness of this blessing. Although I am here for the specific reason of interning, I know the Lord has placed me here for His glory. My schedule will be nuts (its has been nuts). I will be tired and exhausted but the Lord must remain my number one priority. Therefore  I want to start back up this blog in an attempt to keep me disciplined in Him. I want to share my revelations in hope that when He answers some of my questions He will answer some of yours too. Lastly, I'M IN NEW YORK!!!!! I HAVE to share this amazing experience  Its only been two weeks but I LOVE it here. Anyway, I came across some notes in my phone that I wrote during the last week of school and I realized that it's convicting me now just as much as it convicted me then. I was so stressed out about finals when God made me realize that I was truly wasting my time worrying about things that didn't matter. He showed me that I had a world view of success and that He now has to tear that down and show me what success really is. So..what is success? 

As a believer your success is found in Christ and the things of Christ.  When you meet The Lord on judgement day He will not review your academic transcript or work history. The things He will be most concerned with is: how much did you love? How many souls were saved because of your witness? How obedient were you to My calling? Nothing else matters. So we find peace in the world's view of shortcoming or failure because we realize that the things that are important to the world are not necessarily important to God. Does this mean that He doesn't care about our grades, career successes or achievements? Absolutely not. He simply cares MORE about the salvation of His people. Any worldly tasks we must achieve whether it be school or a certain job or position should be completed with the mind frame that Christ has placed me here in this situation for His future glory. Therefore everything WILL go according to His plan even if that means us getting a B in a class when we truly desired and worked hard for an A. The only reason you're in school is to undergo preparation for the next mission He assigns you to. So regardless of the outcome of your efforts, as long as you are being obedient to Him He will pave the way and make your path clear. 

A lot of believers struggle with the worldly mindset of wanting to impress, or be good for other people. One of my spring semester grades came out lower that I'd desired even though I'd truly given my all. I was so upset finals week not only because of my grade but because I was ashamed of what my professor thought of me. I wanted to be seen as smarter, brilliant in his eyes and the eyes of my peers. Struggling all semester long does not exude brilliance. I'm the Wall Street girl, I should be Acing everything. The Lord showed me that this a worldly mindset and us Christians must eliminate it at all costs. If we truly give our all, why does it matter when we fall short? Colossians 3:23 tells us 

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."

I was in a serious rut because I didn't feel good enough. Not smart enough, not righteous enough, not worthy enough. Here's the thing I had to realize: I'm not. I'm not but He is. All of the blessings we are given are not because of how good we are. In fact, its because of how bad we are! If we weren't so bad then Christ wouldn't have died in our place. I had to realize that it's nothing that I do can do to add to or take away from what God has in His plans for me. My only job is to be obedient to His calling and to serve Him fully in ALL that I do. We do not seek to fulfill worldly standards. We do not seek the applause of men. We are not validated by the praise and acclimation of men. We are justified by Christ. When eternity comes, all of the opinions of men will be utterly meaningless. They are meaningless now. The only opinion we should be worried about is Christ. The only one we should seek validation from is Christ.   

So in summary, here's what you can validate as success: loving God, serving God with your whole heart and being obedient to His commands. If we are successful in this area we will be successful in all other areas. When we focus all of our attention on Christ, He takes care of any and every situation that's going on in our lives. Want that promotion? Serve God. Want to get accepted into that grad school? Love the Lord. I am a living witness of spiritual success translating to worldly success. If you would've told me a year ago that I'd be in New York living my dream working at Goldman Sachs I'd probably think you were out of your mind. This time last year I wasn't even focused on an internship. I wanted to be closer to the Lord. I wanted to understand Him more and be more devoted to Him. I sought spiritual success and in exchange He gave me worldly success. What a mighty God we serve! I'm so unworthy! I hope this message blesses you as much as it has blessed me. Until next time...


Camille4Christ