Is the BMW in the driveway? The house larger than your neighbors’?

Is it finally achieving your fitness goal—losing that weight, running that marathon, climbing that mountain, being selected for that team/job?

Prosperity?

Or is it, as King Solomon of Israel believed, that the Lord has prospered the nation? The message of the book of Judges in the Bible is clear. When the leaders followed the Lord, the nation enjoyed peace and prosperity. Everyone content under their vine or fig tree—the Mediterranean lifestyle we still aspire to.

When Israel’s leaders fell into idolatry, the Lord allowed their enemies to defeat them, tax them, or enslave them. Obvious conclusion: if they prospered, the Lord must be happy with them.

It’s a subtle and popular deception. For the Lord “causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45).

Miracles?

After our teams return from a mission trip to Nepal, I am often asked, “Was it successful?” Did we achieve our goals? How many were saved? How many delivered? How many healed? Did we see any miracles?

These are valid questions. After all, doesn’t the Lord want everyone saved, healed and set free? (But for the one man saved, his life has been rescued. For the woman set free, she’ll never be the same.)

When we stand before the Lord, I don’t believe he’ll ask such questions. Rather, he will simply ask, “Did you do what I asked? Did you use the talents I gave you?”

The Lord’s measure of success is not prosperity or fitness or even miracles. It’s obedience.