Success

How joyful are those who fear the LORD—all who follow his ways! You will enjoy the fruit of your labor. How joyful and prosperous you will be! Your wife will be like a fruitful grapevine, flourishing within your home. Your children will be like vigorous young olive trees as they sit around your table. That is the LORD’s blessing for those who fear him. [Psalm 128.1-4]

For someone very special in my life:

To fear the LORD is to understand our constant need for forgiveness. It is just that simple.

It is not ironic that the Word of God would indicate that when a person genuinely fears the LORD, his family and his work will be blessed in obvious ways.

No amount of self-sufficiency however can overcome spiritual laws set in motion by God. Self-reliance (dependance upon oneself - not fearing God) will brutally manifest in drudgery at work and turmoil at home.

I wish I could say I did not know this by experience.

It was my own firm resolution that I would not repeat the mistakes of those before me that positioned me in a far worse condition of self-reliance.

It has only been later in my life that I have begun (and only begun) to understand that humbly fearing God, instead of proudly coercing family and work, is the key to joy and prosperity in family and work. 

The problem is, I have many years' experience trying to succeed on my own. And, I modeled and passed on the insufficient example of self-sufficiency to those I love the most. I should have been fearing God.

But, this I know and have great hope in: there is forgiveness of sins for all who repent. God's Word reveals this on every page - if only we would turn to it, instead of to ourselves.

Father, forgive me for ever thinking I could change people - those I have worked with, and more especially those in my family. Forgive me for not following the humble example of Jesus on the cross Who asked You to forgive the world while laying down His life for their sin.