True
Success
By Ellen G. White
Success
is not the result of chance or of destiny; it is the outworking
of God's own providence, the reward of faith and discretion,
of virtue and persevering effort. The Lord desires us to use
every gift we have; and if we do this, we shall have greater
gifts to use. He does not supernaturally endow us with the
qualifications we lack; but while we use that which we have,
He will work with us to increase and strengthen every faculty.
By every wholehearted, earnest sacrifice for the Master's
service our powers will increase. While we yield ourselves
as instruments for the Holy Spirit's working, the grace of
God works in us to deny old inclinations, to overcome powerful
propensities, and to form new habits. As we cherish and obey
the promptings of the Spirit, our hearts are enlarged to receive
more and more of His power, and to do more and better work.
Dormant energies are aroused, and palsied faculties receive
new life.
The humble worker who obediently responds to the call of God
may be sure of receiving divine assistance. To accept so great
and holy a responsibility is itself elevating to the character.
It calls into action the highest mental and spiritual powers,
and strengthens and purifies the mind and heart. Through faith
in the power of God, it is wonderful how strong a weak man
may become, how decided his efforts, how prolific of great
results. He who begins with a little knowledge, in a humble
way, and tells what he knows, while seeking diligently for
further knowledge, will find the whole heavenly treasure awaiting
his demand. The more he seeks to impart light, the more light
he will receive. The more one tries to explain the word of
God to others, with a love for souls, the plainer it becomes
to himself. The more we use our knowledge and exercise our
powers, the more knowledge and power we shall have.
Every effort made for Christ will react in blessing upon ourselves.
If we use our means for His glory, He will give us more. As
we seek to win others to Christ, bearing the burden of souls
in our prayers, our own hearts will throb with the quickening
influence of God's grace; our own affections will glow with
more divine fervor; our whole Christian life will be more
of a reality, more earnest, more prayerful.
The value of man is estimated in heaven according to the capacity
of the heart to know God. This knowledge is the spring from
which flows all power. God created man that every faculty
might be the faculty of the divine mind; and He is ever seeking
to bring the human mind into association with the divine.
He offers us the privilege of co-operation with Christ in
revealing His grace to the world, that we may receive increased
knowledge of heavenly things.
Looking unto Jesus we obtain brighter and more distinct views
of God, and by beholding we become changed. Goodness, love
for our fellow men, becomes our natural instinct. We develop
a character which is the counterpart of the divine character.
Growing into His likeness, we enlarge our capacity for knowing
God. More and more we enter into fellowship with the heavenly
world, and we have continually increasing power to receive
the riches of the knowledge and wisdom of eternity.
Published in pp. 353-355.