Slow and Steady Wins the Race…

… Or does it?

I’m an easily discouraged person. I don’t know what it is about my personality, but rarely do I feel like I’m succeeding in anything. And, when I do succeed, I take it with a grain of salt because I know it will soon come to an end. I consistently feel like I’m under-performing, even when people encourage me and give me compliments. There’s just something about me that chooses to focus on the “not good” part of things, always primarily seeing areas of improvement, even when they’re miniscule.

And even in the face of all that negativity I know that I am capable of achieving something great. I’m pretty certain that’s the God-redeemed part of me speaking. Even yesterday I was talking with a friend and told him that I’m going to be a millionaire. He may have thought I was joking (he did laugh at me), but I whole-heartedly believe that with enough work and time I will be able to achieve that level of financial success. But I have to remind myself consistently that success to that level isn’t something that will happen over night, the preparation for that type of entrustment happens today and tomorrow and the next day and the next.

This morning I was looking at my different websites and social media accounts, surveying the number of likes and views and clicks and found myself becoming incredibly discouraged. I asked the Lord “Why am I not successful?” to which he immediately answered:

You’re looking for success, I’m looking for faithfulness. 

Our measure of success isn’t what God’s looking at. It’s not even in the same category as his definition of success. God has never been impressed by the amount of money in a bank account or the number of people following you on social media. He’s only concerned about your heart. What have you been given to steward? How are you treating the people working for you? How do you manage the resources you’ve been given? Are you faithful to develop the talents he’s placed in you? Are you passionately pursuing Him, not for the gifts he gives but because of who he is?

In a society where it’s acceptable and even encouraged to be flippant, God is calling us to a higher standard: faithfulness. He’s looking for his children to be slow and steady in the midst of chaotic running around. I trading in my frenzied mindset for a much slower pace. It may take me longer to reach “success”, but I know that by developing my faithfulness muscle, I’ll be able to thrive throughout the process. And I don’t know about you, but thriving sounds a lot better than striving!