On one occasion a young journalist challenged Edison saying to him, “Mr. Edison, why do you keep trying to make light by using electricity when you have failed so many times? Don’t you know that gas lights are with us to stay?”

To this Edison replied, “Young man, don’t you realize that I have not failed but have successfully discovered six thousand ways that won’t work!”

Because Edison believed an electric light was possible, he refused to give up. He tried countless types of material in his search for a filament that would work. He sent men to China, Japan, South America, Asia, Jamaica, Ceylon and Burma to search for fibers to test in his laboratory—all to no avail.

On October 21, 1879, after thirteen months of repeated failures, Edison finally succeeded in finding a filament that would work. While experimenting, the thought came to him, “Why not try a carbonized cotton fiber?” After going through two spools of cotton, he eventually perfected a strand only to break it while trying to place it in a glass tube. He still persevered with this idea for two more days and nights without sleep. Finally he succeeded in placing a carbonized thread into a vacuum-sealed bulb! Eureka! It worked.

“Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank You that You have a mission in life for me to fulfill. Give me the insight to know what it is, the faith to believe You will help me, the courage to attempt to do it, and the perseverance to hang in there and ‘not faint’ till my life’s work is done. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. St. Paul (Galatians 6:9).

When Moses died, God appointed Joshua to be the new leader of Israel. One of the very first things God did was to give Joshua a goal—a goal to claim and conquer the Promised Land. God spelled out the northern, southern, eastern and western borders so the goal was very specific. Joshua knew exactly what he needed to do.

God also told Joshua that he had given him, and the ancient Israelites this land—but they still had to go and conquer it. It wasn’t handed to them on a silver platter. They had to battle every inch of the way to conquer it. However, had God not given the land to them, they wouldn’t have been able to conquer it.

Furthermore, God promised Joshua good success providing he and the people fully obeyed all the directions and laws God had given to them through Moses.

It has been noted that “success is the ability to embrace a worthwhile goal and then employ all of your powers for the achievement of that goal.” I’m sure Joshua would have agreed with this definition of success.

As we shared yesterday, God has a specific plan and goal for you and me too. It’s up to us to seek God to discover what that plan and goal is. And then it’s up to us, with God’s help, to “take action and go get it!”

Any worthwhile goal will also be a challenge for us to fulfill. God isn’t going to hand it to us on a silver platter. However, as God promised to be with Joshua and help him, he will also be with us and help us; that is, providing we “employ all of our powers to achieve that goal” and live and work in harmony with God’s will and obey his Word, the Bible. Only then will we, too, have good success. Of that we can be confident.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank You that as You promised to be with Joshua You will also be with me as long as I live in harmony with Your Word and Your will. Show me specifically what You want me to be and do, and give me the wisdom, faith, courage, and determination to work to fulfill that goal, so that I, too, will experience Your blessing and good success. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Joshua 1:7 (NIV).

According to Peter Wagner, “Goal setting is a risk. One of the most comfortable things in the world is to have no goals, because then there can be no failure. It is equally comfortable to define your goals in terms of what you happen to be doing at any given time. If you shoot first, then draw the target around the bullet hole, you’ll never miss the bull’s eye. If someone looks later, he might even call you a good marksman.” Some people have developed this technique very well. Their goals are set more by their own inclinations than by carefully formulated biblical priorities.

Having a clearly defined goal is the first step towards the success of anything. However, according to motivational specialists only three percent of people have a major goal for their life. Without this we are like a rudderless ship. Instead of our setting the direction of our life, we let the winds and tides of the times take us where they will. As someone has said facetiously, “Blessed be he who aims at nothing for he shall surely hit it!”

As with the Apostle Paul, God has a specific goal for each one of us. It is our responsibility to discover what that goal is and work towards achieving it. And as Paul said, “All of us who are mature should take such a view of things.”

“Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank You that You have a specific purpose and goal for my life. Please help me to discover what that is and give me the desire, courage, and direction to help me work towards fulfilling that goal. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Philippians 3:13-15 (NIV).

Fred Bauer wrote how he once “went backstage at the Metropolitan Opera to interview Jerome Hines, the internationally famous singer, who is also an active Christian layman. While he applied makeup and got ready for his role in that night’s production of Aida, I asked him questions about his life and faith. One of the most fascinating things he told me was that he wasn’t a good enough singer to make his high school glee club. He auditioned for the choir, but failed to impress the director. Did that detour his career? I wanted to know.

“’No, I kept on singing,’ Hines said, ‘because I loved to sing. I never considered it anything more than an avocation.’ So he went off to college, studied math and sang as a hobby—which led to some amateur roles, which led to his discovery by people who had a different opinion of his talent from his high school teacher. Later that night, as I stood in the wings and listened to his rich bass voice sweep over that famous hall, I wondered how there could have ever been any question.”²

Of one thing I am convinced, and that is that God has a plan and purpose for every life. We may get sidetracked, experience setbacks, and get discouraged from time to time, but if we are genuinely committed to discovering God‘s plan and, with His help, fulfilling it—and never give up—God will surely direct us so His plan for our life will be fulfilled. Our own life and the lives of many others will be greatly enriched as a result.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to discover Your plan and purpose for my life and never give up no matter how many setbacks that come my way. May I always learn to trust You no matter what. Thank You for your help and for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV).

2. Fred Bauer, Daily Guideposts, 1986, © Guideposts Associates, Inc., http://tinyurl.com/ydwer9

Success has been well defined as “the ability to embrace a worthwhile goal and then employ all of your powers for the achievement of that goal.”

Having a goal is the first step in the success of anything. Without a specific goal it is all too easy to go every-which-way with one’s endeavors and thereby dissipate one’s energies. And, if we’re not careful, we can end up not accomplishing anything worthwhile with our life. We become like the proverbial marksman who shoots first and then draws a bull’s eye around where he hit in a vain attempt to seek to convince himself and others what a good marksman he is!

According to motivational speakers, only about three percent of people have a major goal for their life. This shouldn’t be true of Christians because God has a major life goal for every one of us. That goal will put to good use our God-given talents in serving others because we serve God by serving people.

It helps to clearly define our major goal in life by writing it out as often as possible. This helps to instill it in our unconscious mind that, in turn, helps us almost to go on automatic pilot so we, too, like Paul, will press toward our God-given life goal.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to discover the God-given major goal for my life and give me the motivation, direction and help I need to fulfill it for Your glory. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Philippians 3:14 (NIV)

Jim Rohn said, “The first rule of management is this: Don’t send your ducks to eagle school. Why? Because it won’t work. Good people are found not changed. They can change themselves, but you can’t change them. You want good people, you have to find them. If you want motivated people, you have to find them, not motivate them.

“I picked up a magazine not long ago in New York that had a full-page ad in it for a hotel chain. The first line of the ad read, “We do not teach our people to be nice.” Now that got my attention. The second line said, “We hire nice people.” I thought, “What a clever shortcut!”²

In spite of the spin of the daily news—emphasizing mostly bad news in the world around us while neglecting most of the good news—God is at work in today’s world. He does have a plan and is looking for motivated people to do his work here on earth—to stand in the gap to “proclaim salvation” and save lost souls—for it is only motivated people who get God’s work done. The half-hearted never make it.

Motivation comes from within—from people who are genuinely committed to Christ and desire to see God’s work on earth done—and get involved in doing it.

You, too, can have a vital role in what God is doing in the world today—the world in which you live. There is no greater privilege on earth … no greater reward in heaven … and no greater way to invest your life for time and eternity—than to be a part of God’s plan and what he is doing in your world today. Sometimes it takes involvement to get motivated.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank You that you use ordinary people to do Your work on earth. I’m available to stand in the gap where I live. Please use me to be a part of Your plan and help me to be ‘as Jesus’ in some way to every life I touch—every day. Thank You for this wonderful privilege, and thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Isaiah 52:7 (NIV).

2. Jim Rohn, excerpted from ‘Leading an Inspired Life,’ Cited on From the Masters www.beliefnet.com

I have read how Leonard Bernstein, former conductor of the New York Philharmonic orchestra, was once asked which instrument was the most difficult to play. Without hesitation Bernstein replied, “The second fiddle. I can get plenty of first violinists, but to find someone who can play the second fiddle with enthusiasm—that’s a problem. And if we have no second fiddle, we have no harmony.”

I recall hearing a beautiful soloist in a church service. The problem was that she sang off key. Had she just given her testimony, we would have been blessed.

Everybody is gifted in one or more areas. When we use these gifts as God intended with the right motive, there is harmony within ourselves and in the group we are ministering to. However, if we try to do what others are gifted for and we are not, if we serve with wrong motives, or if we have a need to control, there will be disharmony within ourselves and in the group.

God’s reward will have nothing to do with whether we are a first, second or a non-fiddler. They will be according to our faithfulness in using the gifts that we have been given. When we come to the end of life’s journey, we will be required to give an account to God of the stewardship of the gifts he has given to us—not of the ones we haven’t been given.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to recognize my God-given gifts, develop and use them to the best of my ability for Your glory and the blessing of others. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. 1 Corinthians 10:31 (NIV).

A winner sees an opportunity in every risk while a loser sees a risk in every opportunity. Winners know that to risk nothing is to risk everything, that if they are going to win they need to be willing to try, to take chances, and to risk failure. That is, they have to be willing to strike out if they are going to hit home runs.

Apparently the year Babe Ruth broke the world record for hitting the most home runs he also broke the world’s record for the most strike-outs!

The point is, if I am going to hit home runs I have to be in the game, stand at the plate and keep swinging. Sooner or later if I practice hard and do my best, I will hit a home run.

As somebody else has said, “To try when there is little hope is to risk failure. Not to try at all is to guarantee it.”

True winners make sure their goal is in harmony with God’s will and, because of this, they know that with his help there is always a way to achieve their goal. Furthermore, they believe in their cause. And they believe in themselves in a healthy way. Therefore they expect to win, believe they will, and do so.

They also know that if they tried and did their best, they have already won.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to be a winner—not in the eyes of the world—but in Your eyes. Help me to do my best, always live in harmony with Your will, learn to love others as You love me, and be a part in what You are doing in the world today. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Jesus, in Matthew 9:29.

The year 1741 was a very depressing one for George Frideric Handel. His latest opera failed. His Italian opera company in London was disbanded. That same year Queen Caroline passed away and the commissions Handel had received for composing music for royal occasions all but dried up. A stroke experienced several years prior not only affected him physically, but affected his music. It seemed as if he had lost the genius that made his music so popular.

Late that year Charles Jennens, a poet known by few, sent Handel a manuscript with a request that Handel set it to music. When Handel read the copy, the words gripped him. Suddenly he came alive. Immediately he began to put the words to music. He labored all through that night and much of the following day. In fact, he worked day and night for 22 more days barely stopping to eat or sleep.

When his composition was finished he sensed that it would be a true masterpiece. His Messiah was performed the following year and was an immediate success.

The words that Jennens wrote that inspired Handel and lifted him out of the pit of despair were about the Savior: “He was despised and rejected of men. He looked for someone to have pity on him, but there was no man. He trusted in God. God did not leave his soul in hell. I know that my Redeemer lives. Rejoice. Hallelujah!”

I would dare to suggest that it was the period of disappointment and despair that prepared Handel in heart and mind to write this masterpiece of musical genius. How grateful we are that he invested his pain wisely.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank You for putting the gift of music in the heart and mind of mankind. And thank You for using George Frideric Handel to give us the awe-inspiring Messiah.’ Help me to find music in my sorrows and so bless others through my pain. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Job 19:25 (NIV).