Definition of the Successful

Every person has a hero. Who is(are) your hero(es)?

Your hero(es) would help you refine your definition of things. In my previous blog I have shared to you how changing your definition changes your mood and your emotions. Your mood/emotion mixed in action will become your attitude. 

Let's take a look at one of the heroes in the Bible, which most people (Christians especially) know, David. The man after God's own heart (see 1 Sam 13:14). He faced perplexing situations yet he seemed to have risen over every trying circumstance. Even when he is facing enemies that are way beyond his built, structure and/or even age, something made him carry on with life still. How was he able to do this? David was a man who defined things, not as he saw them, but as God saw them.

When David was still a young shepherd and Israel was at war with the Philistines, he faced his most famous challenge. Instead of the two armies waging full-scale battle, each side agreed to choose its finest, most spartan warrior and let the two of them duke it out, each on behalf of his entire army. The winner would bring victory to his entire nation, while the nation of the loser would become slaves to the nation of the winner.

A giant named Goliath was chosen to represent the Philistines.He towered over the men of Israel, measuring over nine feet tall. His armor weighed more than 100 pounds. I'll bet he was uglier than sin, too.

Goliath made such an impression that every Israelite warrior cowered in fear (see Sam. 17:24). They darted behind rocks, hid in caves and ducked behind bushes. Goliath stood on a hill like a bully, taunting the Israelites and cursing them by his gods. 

David saw the giant making fun of the trembling Israelites, who were hiding in the thickets. Despite having a clear view of the situation, David defined the Israelites as "the armies of the living God" (1 Sam 17:26).

They sure didn't look like warriors of an almighty God! They looked more like a bunch of chickens that had just seen a fox, or perhaps a group of hog/swine the night before the town fiesta.  If David had described the situation according to how it looked, he might well have defined these men as wimps. Instead, he called them the armies of the living God.

David walked up to his overgrown, unruly opponent and exclaimed, "You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted." (1 Sam. 17:45).

Righteous indignation filled his soul, and courage flooded his veins. David withdrew one of the five smooth stones in his bag, loaded his slingshot and let it fly! His years of practice on the back side of the desert paid off, and the stone caught the gian right between eyes.

The giant muttered, "Boy nothing like this ever entered my mind before," and he fell on his face to the ground. (Version created).

David chose to see things the way God saw them. And because he made this critical choice, God was able to use David to overcome impoosible circumstances and lead His people to an overwhelming victory against the Philistines. So great was the victory that we still speak of it even today!

A second example of David defining things as God does is found in 1 Samuel 24. Some time after the Goliath incident, David found himself running from the wicked King Saul who wanted to take the young warrior's life. Saul short-lived gratefulness for slaying the giant had turned into long-term jealousy. Although David was innocent, Saul's insecurity had driven him to rid his throne of any possible competitors, and yet David kept looking for the best in Saul, in spite of it all.

It was the in the cave of Engedi where David displayed a quality of leadership that was to become hallmark of his life. He was hiding in the cave when saul entered, unaware of David's presence. Weary from his pursuit of David, Saul fell asleep. Here was David's golden opportunity to rid himself of Saul and end the king's merciless crusade! David's men urged him on:

And the men of David said to him, "Behold, this is the day of which the Lord said to you, 'Behold; I am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you.'"

So [David] said to his men, "Far be it from me because of the Lord that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord's anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is the Lord's anointed." (1 Sam. 24:4,6)

Let me ask you, did Saul deserve to be called the Lord's anointed? Did he act like the Lord's anointed? Obviously not! 

But then again, did the Israelites, dismayed by a bully's threats and fleeing in every direction, resemble the army of the living God? Surely this was misnomer! Yet despite David's seeming blindness to the obvious, God gave David victory over his enemies and made him Israel's greatest leader. 

Here's the gem: David chose to define things as God defined them.

David chose to see circumstances and events from God's perspective, and in so doing, he received strength and courage from the Lord. His "eye was clear" (see Matt. 6:22). His perspective was God-pleasing. This is why God made David successful in all he did. That kind of strength comes only as a result of having the right attitude!

David was a man after God's own heart, because he defined events the way God defined them.

(From Wayne Cordeiro's "Attitudes that Attract Success")

Reading this article, would make us realize that we often define things as they are seen by our ordinary eyes. Men tend to see the "obvious" to their eyes, yet failed to recognize the fact that they are part of a humongous schemes of a greater author. We even define people with their current action, we define people with their history not with their potential. We mock people for what they have done, and we condemn people because they have wronged us. This article, opens us into a new perspective in life. That even with a situation where God seems to be absent, your mind and your attitude is to recognize that God is present! 

CHOOSE TO DEFINE THINGS AS GOD DEFINE THEM!