Success: The Art of Flourishing

The metaphors in the Bible provide powerful insights about life. Most people desire success so any reliable source that provides insights into what brings it is welcome. The Bible is definitely one such source. We see a picture of what success looks like in Psalm 92:12-14. “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 13 Those who are planted in the house of the LORD Shall flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be [c]fresh and [d]flourishing”

we can learn some lessons from this metaphor of Palm trees. Palm trees are not just beautiful, they also provide deep life lessons.

Almost everyone likes the idea of a successful life. Success is when a person is Financially sound, physically healthy, enjoying a family and marriage life, having fun relationships with friends and relatives, and having a flourishing Career or Business.

To flourish there are things that should be in place. Borrowing from the metaphor of the Palm tree seen in the Psalms, I want us to look at 2 things that cause people to success. These two things will bring success to any aspect of life that they are applied to.

Firstly, for anyone to flourish they need to be “PLANTED” into something. The scripture tells us that “Those who are planted in the house of the LORD Shall flourish…” You cannot flourish if you are unstable. Flourishing comes from doing something well for a long time. Put roots into something. Be it a business, a relationship, a church, a marriage etc. For it to flourish you have to commit for the long term.

Successful people make decisions quickly and change them slowly or not at all, but unsuccessful people have a tendency to make decisions slowly and change them very quickly. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. Go for the long haul, not a short walk.

The second thing that makes people flourish is fruitfulness. Again the scripture says that “They shall still bear fruit in old age…”. You cannot flourish if you are not productive. You cannot flourish by sitting down waiting for the lucky ship to bring you a fortune. Successful people work hard. Hard work will always pay off. If you are one of those people that have adopted a mistaken view that success is a luck thing. You are in for a long time of waiting for your luck. Success favors those who work hard. If there is any luck in success, my advice is, work hard and you will get lucky. Samuel Goldwyn said, "The Harder I Work, the Luckier I Get"

Two things will make you flourish. Plant yourself into something and stay planted and get busy