When we listen to God and follow Him in faithful obedience, it does not always lead to the superficial and worldly riches we so often desire. But it does lead to an amazing sort of victory, the truest kind. The riches of the Kingdom.
Faithfulness covers us like an aroma, a fragrance pleasing to the Lord. And as we walk through our lives, people start to notice. The smell is invisible to the eye. But it can grab your attention and send you contemplating the source.
As we walk through this life, smelling of the aroma of God, we join the beauty of nature and diversity of human life. We become a fragrant garden, the nasal manifestation of the body of Christ.
Our superficial and short-sighted view of success is the result of our obsession with what we can see and touch. We are focused on what we can do rather than who we are.
The aroma of Christ is wafting through all of our circumstances. In every person. In every place. The true victory of living comes as we tune our nose to smell him and to radiate the fragrance of His Kingdom.