The Measurement of Success

Ezekiel 2:7 (NIV)

You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious.

I think it’s so interesting that in God’s call to Ezekiel (Ezekiel, chapters 2-3), He repeated the basis of this statement FOUR times. God wanted to make sure Ezekiel understood that He was called to obedience, regardless of whether or not he saw the fruit of it.

We tend to measure success by what we can see—by outcomes, numbers, reach, responses, etc. And much of the time there's nothing wrong with this! However, as servants of God, our foremost measure of success must be in response to this one question: did I obey God? If the answer to that question is yes, then God is glorified and pleased—and that is God's definition of success.

So let's make it personal. Maybe God asked you to do something for someone else—to send a gift, to provide an act of service, to extend an apology—but you have yet to see any fruit from it. Therefore, you're feeling like your obedience was a failure. Or maybe God has asked you to do something for someone else, but you're afraid your obedience will not result in the outcome for which you hope.

We have to remember two things:

1. God measures success by our obedience and faithfulness, so we have to measure our success by the same—not by what happens as a result. 

Just like God said to Ezekiel, speak my words, whether they listen or fail to listen. 

2. Everything God purposes has purpose.

Nothing God calls His people to do is done in vain. One act of obedience might pave the way for fruit to come later. Ezekiel’s ministry did produce fruit in his generation, but it also had purpose beyond his lifetime for generations he knew nothing about—for those of us who would read his story and his prophecies through the pages of scripture thousands of years later!

Lord, thank You for Your call upon each one of our lives. Please help us endure through seasons in which we don’t get to see the fruit of our obedience, and thank You for the ones in which we do. Please help us to know that everything You call us to do has purpose, whether we get to see it now or not. Amen.