Success

⁹ remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, ¹⁰ declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
(Isaiah 46:9-10, ESV)

Some years ago, I managed a manufacturing plant in Georgia that produced packaging. While there, we took an order that needed a rushed delivery. Sales committed to the customer that we would have it out on time and actually increased the price due to the short suspense. The only problem was that the timing on the order was virtually impossible to meet. We worked about as hard and frantically as possible to make the delivery, but we did not. We failed to deliver as promised.

Failure is essentially not accomplishing that which one sets out to do. In life we all experience failure and it does hurt. The reason that we fail is that we struggle with our own imperfections in a sin fallen and imperfect world. However, if we understand it, success is possible for every believer. The success I speak of is that success found in the Lord.

In this passage of Isaiah, the Lord is speaking of Babylon and His moving of the Persian Empire to defeat them. This victory of the Persian empire would result in Cyrus’ decree to rebuild and restore Jerusalem. As you recall, Persia attacked and conquered Babylon in 539BC, more than 150 years after the Lord gave these words to Isaiah. Moreover, as prophesied Cyrus did initiate the return of the exiles and, the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Temple.

The course of events prophesied here would have seemed impossible to the natural man. Babylon would attack the nation of Israel in 605BC, which ultimately resulted in the destruction of the capital city Jerusalem and the Temple, and the deportation of the Israelites to Babylon, perhaps 800 miles away by foot. The natural man would have seen no hope in ever returning to their former home and rebuilding the city. However, that is exactly what the Lord says He would do, and that is exactly what He did. He used Cyrus of Persia as His instrument to return His people to Jerusalem. The Lord never fails. What He sets out to do, He does.

You and I often set out to do things and fail. Sometimes we fail because we do not know what to do. Sometimes it is because we do not really try. Sometimes circumstances are such that we just cannot succeed regardless of how much effort we put into it. Yet God never fails.

The Lord our God has unlimited resources, unlimited knowledge, unlimited power, and unlimited resolve. The amazing thing is this. We as believers are in Christ and have the victory because He never fails. This is our assurance of success in the Christian life. It is not that we will never fail in completing something, but that we will succeed in spite of these failures. We will succeed because the Lord’s goal for us is to glorify God as we grow in Christ-likeness. Whether we succeed or fail in human terms, Christ guarantees us the victory in Him. He does work all things to accomplish this purpose in our lives, and He never ever fails. What He says, He will do.