God's System of Success

Everything is life is dependent relationships. If you have good, healthy relationships, life will go well for you. If you have broken, painful relationships, life will drag along like one big heavy burden. This is the way God designed life. Relationships are so important, the whole of our existence cannot be complete without good relationships. Never attempt to sacrifice relationships on the altar of rewards. It will never work. Every good thing comes out of healthy relationships governed by God's guidelines and mandates.

There is one important relationship that is often neglected----the relationship with a spiritual mentor and advisor. An attitude of independancy combined with a culture that is agitated with faith-based leadership and organizations has resulted in spiritual mentorship on the verge of extinction. This is foolish and unnecessary. For as long as the Spirit of God is on the earth, there will be men and women of God who have been divinely commissioned to declare the Word of God for a wayward people.

"But Jehoshaphat said, "Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that we may inquire of the Lord by him? And one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, which poured water on the hands of Elijah."

We learn the following from this verse about spiritual mentorship:

1. Lack of recognition of a man of God can cause you to wander and waste time concerning your future.

"Is there not here a prophet of the Lord".........the man of God was always there, but no one was recognizing him. You can not utilize what you do not recognize. A failure to discern the gifts around you is the ultimate poverty. Look around. God always has a man or woman of God who has a Word for you.

2. Never get to be such a "big shot" that you think you don't need a man of God's influence in your life.

Why didn't Jehoshaphat, the King of Israel, know who Elisha was? It was the king's servant that had to introduce Elisha to the king. People who come into power or prestige will be tempted to ignore godly council and influence. The higher you go up in life, the more you need the grounding of mentorship-----not less. Celebrity should not negate Council. Power should not nullify the Prophet. Increase should never cause you to turn off the valve of Influence.

3. Don't wait for a crisis before you are open to godly council.

It is great that Jehoshaphat called on the prophet in a time of need. But crisis should not be the only thing that connects us to a man or woman of God. The man of God is not a fireman, someone you only need when there is an emergency.

4. Be careful to only listen to men who listen to others. Serve men who are serving others.

Wrong mentorship can cost you over a lifetime. The servant determined Elisha's credibility by who mentored and instructed Elisha. "Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, which poured water on the hands of Elijah." The servant is saying, "This man is worthy to be listened to. He spent a majority of his life serving the prophet Elijah." You can find out a lot about a person by discovering who they are connected to. Who have they learned from? Who do they serve? Who has a voice in their life. I would never want to follow a lone ranger. I do not want to spend my life serving someone who doesn't serve himself. I don't want to give into a non-giver. I refuse to be mentored by someone who has not been mentored themselves!