For most of my adult life, I was pursuing success. Like many men, I wanted to build something meaningful. I wanted to provide for my family, grow professionally, lead well, and make a difference. There is nothing wrong with those pursuits. In fact, many of them are honorable and God-honoring. And for many years, success became the scorecard. Did the business grow? Did the goals get accomplished? Did the opportunities increase?
But something interesting happens as we get older. The questions begin to change. The questions that drove us in our 30s and 40s no longer seem quite as important in our 50s, 60s, 70s, and beyond. We may still enjoy achievement. We may still be active, productive, and engaged. But we begin to realize that success doesn’t answer some of life’s most important questions.
Success can tell us what we’ve done. It cannot tell us who we are. Success can tell us what we’ve built. It cannot tell us why we’re here. Success can tell us what we’ve accumulated. It cannot tell us what truly matters.
I’ve come to believe that success prepares us for achievement, but it doesn’t prepare us for significance. In many ways, the more important questions of life begin after success, not before it. Questions like:
What does God want from me in this season?
What am I supposed to do with the energy and years I have left?
What kind of legacy am I creating right now vs. what I may be thinking of leaving behind after I’m gone?
Who am I becoming?
What impact and I having, how am I investing in others?
What will matter when I stand before God?
Those questions don’t usually show up when we’re busy building careers, businesses, organizations, and families. They often emerge later, when we have enough perspective to realize that achievement alone was never the final destination.
King Solomon understood this struggle. He experienced wealth, influence, accomplishment, and power beyond what most people could imagine. Yet the book of Ecclesiastes reads like the reflections of a man who discovered that achievement by itself cannot satisfy the deepest longings of the human heart.
The truth is that God created us for more than accomplishment. He created us for purpose. He created us for relationship with Him. He created us to influence others, pass along wisdom, and help the next generation follow Him. As grandfathers, we are uniquely positioned to do that.
Many of us have accumulated experiences that younger people simply haven’t had time to gain. We have stories of success and failure. We have lessons learned the hard way. We have perspective that only comes from walking with God through decades of life. The question is whether we are intentionally using those gifts.
One of my favorite verses is Acts 13:36: “For David, after he had served God’s purpose in his own generation, fell asleep.” What a remarkable description of a life. David wasn’t remembered primarily for his accomplishments, victories, or titles. He was remembered as a man who served God’s purpose in his generation.
That’s the challenge I want to leave with you. When my life is over, I hope the simplest and truest thing that can be said about me is this: he served God’s purpose in his generation.
Take a few minutes this week and ask yourself a question: What questions am I trying to answer in this season of life? If your answers revolve primarily around achievement, productivity, possessions, or recognition, perhaps it’s time to dig a little deeper.
Ask God what significance looks like now. Ask Him what and where your wisdom is needed. Ask Him who needs your wisdom and encouragement. Ask Him how you can serve His purposes in this generation.
Because at the end of our lives, the goal won’t be simply to have been successful. The goal will be to have been obedient and faithful.
Success may measure what we accomplished. Obedience and faithfulness reveals whether we fulfilled God’s purpose for our lives.
Don Schin has extensive global experience in Asia with Fortune 500 companies. He now owns a franchise broker and consulting company. Don is a seasoned professional speaker and writer, authoring the book, “Can you Relate?” Don is active in his community where his time is devoted to men’s groups, local churches, and non-profit boards including recent past chair of the Bethesda Mission, the largest rescue mission in Harrisburg, PA. He also served as the chaplain for an AA baseball team through BaseballChapel.org, And today serves as a Hockey International Ministries chaplain to the Calder cup champion Hershey Bears AHL hockey team. Don enjoys spending time with his wife, Kim, of 46 years. They have two grown children and seven grandchildren.
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