What is God's version of prosperity?

Dominick Santore recently wrote a powerful piece titled The Prosperity of the Gospel.

He used  Jeremiah 29.11 as his cornerstone scripture reference.

"For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope..."

One of Santore's main points is that "God doesn't always promise happy endings in this physical world."

Which got me to thinking: When it comes to this life, what does God promise us?

God doesn't promise financial or material success.

In America today, dollars and cents seem to be the most common way of measuring success in life. Quite often conversations about success are nothing but a listing of current salary, what neighborhood we are living in and how much money we will make in the future.

While there is nothing inherently wrong with money or a good career, these aspects of life don't capture the total picture of how a person is doing.

Jeremiah quoted God during a time when the Jewish nation was being held captive in Babylon, and God was telling his people that they would have to endure 70 years as captives until they could come back home. God was encouraging them to continue to seek him wholeheartedly. That was God's version of success.

God doesn't use the same yardstick to measure success that we do.

In Jesus' day, many religious leaders looked at health, business savvy and other possessions as signs of God's favor. But Jesus told them that they were mistaken. In fact, from what the bible shows us, God's Son had a very modest carpentry business that He learned and inherited from His dad. (It was so modest that there isn't much mention of it at all.)

Jesus didn't use his trade skills to build a mega-house for His Mom or set up a huge carpentry business with His siblings.

When God's Son began His public ministry, quite often the things He said elicited the response of, "Isn't this the carpenter's son?" A direct reference to His material insignificance.

God promises us that if we follow Him, we'll be challenged.

If we follow God, we're going to come against the prevailing wisdom of of the day.

It was true when Jesus walked the earth and it's just as true today. The human race hasn't changed its essential nature over the centuries.

We don't live in a nation that's inclined to follow God. So following God is going to cost us something because following God has never been popular.

God does promise us fulfillment.

So if God isn't promising us a materially satisfying and financially successful life, then what is God's version of prosperity or success?

Peace that isn't dependent upon circumstances. Security that isn't based on stock portfolio performance. Love that is eternal and non-conditional.

Jeremiah went on to say (after 29.11) that God's promise is that we will find God when we seek God with all of our hearts. God will hear us when we pray. And God won't forsake us.

Sometimes it takes great faith to believe this. Sometimes it takes outrageous hope to hold on to this. (Philippians 4.6-7). And ultimately such faith and hope bring us to ever-deepening relationship. Which is God's ultimate promise.

Photo Credit: www.livepurposfullynow.com