The concept of being “self-made” is very popular in today’s culture, as evidenced by this recent Forbes list: America’s Richest Self-Made Women Forbes’ Ranking Of The Country’s Most Successful Women Entrepreneurs, Executives And Entertainers (June 2023)
“Books. Biometrics. Beauty products. These 100 entrepreneurs, executives and entertainers made their fortunes in every conceivable way. Bolstered in part by a rebound in the stock market, they are cumulatively worth a record $124 billion, up nearly 12% from a year ago.”
We have all heard these kinds of stories of people who started with nothing and went on to become an overnight success, a transformation that they attributed to being “self made”. The implication is that they did not really need anyone’s help to achieve success and that they essentially relied only on themselves. Practically, we know that no one truly achieves success on their own. (Everyone has grandparents, parents, friends, teachers, coaches, and in the case of the country’s most successful women entrepreneurs, executives, and entertainers, they all had investors in one form or the other.) Biblically speaking, there is no such thing as being “self made”. The final chapters of Genesis focus on God’s providence in the life of Jacob’s son Joseph. Joseph attributed his success to divine sovereignty–God’s intentional direction and presence in his life.
Jacob had a preference for Joseph, his youngest son, which triggered hatred and resentment amongst the rest of his brothers. After being implicated in one of Joseph’s dreams, the brothers conspired to get rid of him, ultimately selling him as a slave. Joseph ended up miles and cultures away in Egypt, in the direct service of a very influential man named Potiphar. Yet through it all, God was quietly at work behind the scenes. “The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man” (Gen 39:2). Joseph further found favor with his boss and was given greater responsibility. But with his good looks, freedom from supervision, and a rapid rise to a position of influence, Joseph became the target of direct, repeated temptation of a sexual nature from none other than his boss’s wife.
Equipped with loyalty to his boss and a proper fear of God, Joseph refused, which triggered a setup from Potiphar’s wife. She lied and framed Joseph, and he ended up in prison (Gen 39:8-23). That doesn’t sound much like success to me. But Yahweh was still present with Joseph and caused him to have favor with those in prison. God directly used another inmate to eventually secure Joseph’s release and an appointment with the Pharaoh himself. The LORD gave Joseph specific wisdom to interpret the Pharaoh’s dreams and predict the future. As a result, the ruler trusted Joseph to lead the entire nation of Egypt into a historic contingency plan–the storing up of grain during the plentiful years (Gen 41:33-36). After seven years of excellent harvests, everything played out as God had predicted. During a regional famine for the next seven years, the surrounding people groups had to journey to Egypt for food, including Joseph’s brothers, the same ones who, 13 years prior, had sold him into slavery.
After some time had passed, during which he tested his brothers and ensured the wellbeing of his father, Joseph finally revealed his true identity. Joseph had the authority and every right to enact revenge on his brothers, yet he chose forgiveness. He could have sent them to prison or had them put to death, but relied upon Yahweh to right the wrongs. Joseph emphatically testified, “God sent me before you to preserve life… God sent me… not you but God… God has made me lord of all Egypt” (Gen 45:5-9).
This is such a powerful story through which we can cultivate wisdom.
There is so much here from family dynamics and birth order, God’s sovereignty over the schemes of man, how to navigate being wronged, the nature of success, sexual temptation in the workplace, the economics of contingency planning, and so forth. But I want to zero in on the source of success. Back in Genesis 39, Moses tells us that, ““The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man…his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD caused all that he did to succeed in his hands” (vv. 2-3). At the end of the day, it was Yahweh who brought about Joseph’s success. It was Yahweh who was providentially orchestrating the circumstances of Joseph’s life. Yahweh was the One who raised him up and then allowed him to be brought down…and then raised up again.
Success is no different for you and I. Although, I hesitate to mention success on its own because it has become such an obsession in our culture. We as believers are never commanded to be successful or seek out success at all costs. We are, however, commanded to work hard as unto God and be faithful to Him. We can certainly pray for God to provide for and direct and bless our lives. Abraham’s servant prayed that Yahweh would “grant me success today” during his search for a bride for Isaac (Gen 24:12). Later on with the transition from Moses to Joseph, Yahweh made the connection between following His Word, meditating on it, and then experiencing “good success” (Josh 1:7-8). Much later on in Israel’s history, Nehemiah prayed, “give success to your servant today and grant him mercy in the sight of this man” (Neh 1:11). One of the psalmists prayed, “Save us, we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success!” (Ps 118:25).
The key seems to be related to our motives and how we define success. If we define success based on material wealth, status, notoriety, then we have adapted a worldly way of thinking. But if, on the other hand, we are aligned with God’s heart and His mission, then we can confidently ask Him to cause our efforts to be successful, to achieve their desired or planned outcomes. This is a matter of orientation and perspective. In the end, who receives the credit? Who receives the glory for what has taken place? For Joseph, and for those who knew him best, God was undeniably the source of his success.
Take a moment to reflect on this for your own life. To what or to whom do you attribute your successes up to this point? How has God worked to help you achieve or prosper? Are your plans and dreams aligned with God’s Word? When you do experience a degree of success, are you quick to thank God? When talking about your achievements and accomplishments, is it in an effort to make yourself look great or an effort to point others to God? There are so many angles to this. But you get the point. May God be gracious to us as we daily navigate a culture so fixated on success and the surface-level trappings of what success looks like.
[This is adapted from devotional #13, Human Success & Divine Sovereignty, which is part of the Wisdom Calling devotional series. For more information, visit www.wisdomcalling.org.]