There is never a case where we meet a person who does not want to prosper. All men desire to prosper in one way or the other. Wherever they go and in whatever circumstances they live they desire to prosper in that condition. Whether it be masters or slaves all desire to flourish and be blessed. We never meet a man who wants to deteriorate. Our world around us is the finest example for this. We have seen people that did not have much, but are now flourishing well just as we have witnessed small companies become large. This is the kind of world we live in; people always work harder to become better by their own merit.
People of this world do prosper, but only in the flesh and hence, there is no peace or perfect prosperity among them. Our world around us is also the finest example for this! As children of God how do we desire to prosper? Do we know when we prosper? “So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and prospered; and Saul set him over the men of war. And it was pleasing in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants” (1 Sam. 18:5).
David prospered not by his own merit, but by following God all the days of his life. He did not desire greater things, but God alone. Thus, God exalted him from being the smallest to being the greatest in his kingdom. This was not only pleasing to him, but also to those that were around him. His prosperity was not only in wealth, but most importantly in winning the hearts of the people and in securing a dwelling place with God.
Dear brethren, the prosperity that comes from God will surely give us inner peace, because we gain a dwelling place with Him and there will be peace between us and the people around us whether at home or at work; for God causes this to happen! Nevertheless, when we do commit sin against the Lord, we surely lose what we have gained. We lose, because we do not inquire God. We do not inquire Him, because we have become arrogant and ungrateful. Therefore, we look for the people around us and not the God who blessed us in many ways. This will surely lead us to ruin! “So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the Lord, because of the word of the Lord which he did not keep; and also because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of it, and did not inquire of the Lord. Therefore He killed him and turned the kingdom to David the son of Jesse” (1 Chron. 10:13-14).
Who wants to lose it all except he who defiled his heart and has turned his face against God? Many of us do not realize that it is our sin that separates us from God. When we are separated from Him, we lose all the prosperity He has given us and is about to give us. It may seem we are prospering, because of the wealth or sustenance we acquire, but we will lose it as well as the prosperity that comes from godliness, health, family, work and relationships. O, what turmoil to the one who loses everything, because he has denied the Lord! “Distress and anguish terrify him, they overpower him like a king ready for the attack, because he has stretched out his hand against God and conducts himself arrogantly against the Almighty” (Job 15:24-25).
What man or woman can understand the prosperity that comes from the Lord, but the one who sought His wisdom? With this wisdom he guards his soul and his family that God has given him as prosperity. When we search for the wisdom of God, it gives us the understanding about our God Almighty, who created us. When we understand our Lord, we will walk with Him humbly only to be exalted. We learn from Him to receive prosperity and to protect that which we received. “A wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel” (Proverbs 1:5).
With the wisdom we receive from God we will be protected until our last day. Even in death we will be comforted. We will stand firm with the belief that our prosperity is not that which will decay, but will last forever. We will be spoken of by people, because we have dwelt with God and He has covered our sin with His grace. Is this not the prosperity that we as children of God should seek? “You will die in peace; and as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they will burn spices for you; and they will lament for you, ‘Alas, lord!’ ‘For I have spoken the word’, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 34:5).
Why do many of us live in poverty (I mean spiritual poverty)? Is it not because we question God? Is it not because we deny His gratefulness? We may not deny in speech, but our deeds testify our denial of God’s gratefulness. When we consider ourselves for once before the God who existed even before the worlds were created and whose age is endless, we realize we are nothing.
Nevertheless, we ridicule God and defy Him with our lives. Who are we that God should choose us? What credit is there in us that we should be given such a great salvation? But, God has loved us and extended His grace to us. He has called us who are far off and made us His children. “I have loved you, says the Lord. But you say, ‘How have You loved us?’ ‘Was not EsauJacob’s brother?’ declares the Lord. ‘Yet I have loved Jacob;’” (Mal. 1:2).
We prosper not when we have achieved it ourselves, but when God is delighted in us. God delights in us when we trust in Him completely; when we surrender to him wholly. How blessed is a man who is protected by God, because he has trusted in Him! This is the true salvation God has given us. Salvation from fear, turmoil, sufferings, persecution and death. It should be our desire to achieve this prosperity from God which no man or world can give. This is what David, the son of Jesse, has truly achieved and God is witness. We too can achieve it, because we have our Lord Jesus Christ as our savior and we are all made the sons of God. Let God’s rescue be the prosperity to the one who calls himself a son of God. “He trusts in God; Let God rescue Him now, if He delights in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God’” (Matthew 27:43).