The way the Lord measures success may surprise you By Nolan Harkness for Christian Post
Has anyone beside me asked, “So how am I doing, Lord?” Numbers, dollars, and even Barna surveys are some of the ways that many of us evaluate our success. But what if success is something closer to home, like reaching our families for Christ? What if it is being faithful to teach the Sunday school class or to implement the outreach ministry that God has just called us to head up?
Several years ago I left Jacksonville, Florida, and moved back to my home in the Northeast. I just knew that God was telling me through His Word to “return to the land of your fathers.” My family has traced many generations of ministers and staunch believers all the way back to eleven who boarded the famous Mayflower in 1620. By God’s design, however, at that point in my life I had come into a powerful new understanding of the Holy Spirit’s ministry and His life transforming power. I could not wait to share this new experience with all of my kinfolk. My foremost desire was to reach the unsaved of my family, but I also wanted to reach those who had been stuck in religious practice for years.
I will never forget the first Sunday meal at home. I humbly read the parable of the “Prodigal Son” to everyone. I then asked forgiveness for the fact that I had originally left home years ago with a prodigal’s mindset and stated now we all could rejoice and be together as a family again. What I was not ready for was a realization that everyone was not as excited as I was that I was home. Jesus warned that sometimes “A man’s enemies would be the members of his own household.” Matthew 10:36 (NKJV) I think it surprises us all when we see the truths that Jesus taught unfolding before our eyes, and it especially impacts us when that truth is combined with a painful reality!
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