While success can have outward ramifications, a lot of the time, real success is not visible to the senses. Though there might be visible manifestations of true success, more often than not, genuine success is not something that can be appreciated with the natural senses. Personal success is subjective. In a sense, only you and God can know whether you are successful or not.

“When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”
~John 19:30

Think about the physical circumstances of Jesus Christ when He uttered the immortal words above: He hung on the cross like a common criminal in public disgrace. Who in his right senses at the time would regard that as success?

Yet, despite the humiliation Jesus suffered at the hands of the Jewish rulers, Pilate, and the Roman soldiers, He triumphantly declared, “I’m done; I’ve finished my Father’s assignment.” Clearly, He saw things differently from the way the rest of the world looked at Him. The rest of the world said, “What an idiot; you are a failure.” Jesus said, “I’m done. I’m successful.”

And, in retrospect, we can see that His judgement of Himself was absolutely accurate.

You know, you can be so successful in the eternal scheme of things that it will take a thousand years for the rest of the world to catch up with what you accomplished!  The Spirit travels faster than the mind; and the mind travels faster than the senses. So sometimes, before human beings catch up with what you’ve accomplished, you would have been gone a long time.

When you walk, judge and assess things by the Spirit, you would be truly successful in anything you do. In every field of endeavour, be it ministry, business, academia, or relationships, the individual who is guided by the Holy Spirit will always achieve success.

I pray for you today that you will judge yourself correctly. I pray that the Holy Spirit will enable you to accurately evaluate your personal success.