Don’t you love it when God surprises you?

Well, God set me back in my red leather chair a few mornings ago … all because of one little word.

I was reading through 1 Samuel, thanks to the recommendation of Rachel Hauck, and came to 1 Samuel 18:14, which says:

David was prospering in all his ways for the LORD was with him. (NASB)

It was as if God said, “Stop reading right there. Stop.”

So I did — and I read and re-read that single sentence, lasering in on the word prosper.

I thought I knew what “prosper” meant. Success. Maybe financial … or maybe professional success … accolades. Achievements. But when I dug into the word, God turned my understanding of the word prosper upside down.

The Hebrew word is sakal and it means to be prudent, circumspect, wisely understand, wise behavior … to act wisely. 

David was acting wisely in all his ways for the LORD was with him.

As writers, we want to prosper.

And so often, we think of prospering as winning awards. Or landing an agent. Or signing a contract. Or doing well as an indie author — selling copious amounts of our novels. We think of prospering as success that we can deposit in the bank or declare to others on our Facebook page or display on our mantle or frame and hang on our wall. 

But how would our lives change if we thought of prospering as acting wisely? Imagine what would happen if our prayer was for God to prosper us — and what we meant was, “God, help me to be wise as I make my decisions today … as I interact with this agent or this editor during my fifteen mnute appointment … as I meet with my writers group.”

We’re all winding down 2015 and looking forward to 2016. Maybe you’re thinking you didn’t prosper as much as you’d hoped to during the past year … but then again, maybe you did prosper.

Reframe your thinking about prospering. Put aside the dollar signs and contracts or the lack thereof  … and think about those times when you prayerfully made wise decisions, allowing God to lead your yes and your no. And then take that truth with you into the new year so that you will continue to prosper as the LORD is with you.

May you prosper as a writer — today and every day!