Do You Know the Formula For Success?
This post is taken from the Formula for Success page here.
Joshua 1:5-9 (NLT)
5 No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.
6 “Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. 8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. 9 This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
I recently had what I like to call an “Aha” or “light bulb” moment (you know—where the light bulb seems to come on in your head and you go “Aha!”). This is otherwise known as “revelation knowledge”–it’s a fancy way of saying “something really cool that God just showed me!” I noticed (actually God brought to my attention) something that I’ve never noticed before in this passage in Joshua (passage shown above). My pastor might call it a “sandwich” of sorts! The messages in verses 5-8 are restated again in reverse in verses 8-9. Look:
- v.5 God says–I will be with you
- v. 6 & 7 God says—Be strong and courageous
- v. 7 God says—Obey, then you will succeed and prosper
- v. 8 God says—Study, meditate on and say God’s instructions (His Word)
- v. 8 God says—Obey, then you will succeed and prosper
- v. 7 God says—Obey, then you will succeed and prosper
- v. 9 God says—Be strong and courageous
- v. 6 & 7 God says—Be strong and courageous
- v. 9 God says—I am with you
I firmly believe this is a formula for success laid out for us in the Bible. I believe this formula will work in any situation (whether you’re a Christian or not).
This is a four-part formula. There is a central step or component we must complete (the only part that is not repeated) surrounded by or sandwiched by three other things that are crucial to our success. I like to look at it like a target or a mark for success. It should be something for which we aim or shoot.