Wealth in Wellness
There is a wealth that resides in wellness. 3 John 1:2 (NKJV) says, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”
The Apostle John is addressing the “beloved,” and he prays that those who are beloved would prosper. The word for prosper is “euodoo” (Strong’s G2137). According to the Strong’s definition, It is a combo word coming from “eu” (Strong’s G2095) and “hodos” (Strong’s G3598). Breaking the word down presents a picture of two things.
First, “eu” is an adverb or helping verb and is translated as “well” and is used 6 times in the New Testament. It’s worth looking at the ways “eu” is used to get a feel for the word and how it was used in Greek. Scriptures we are familiar with and the idea of it being an adverb matters because it is telling us how to do what is being done. For example, in the gospels, Jesus uses it to say, “Well (eu) done, good and faithful servant…” (Matthew 25:21 ESV). The Apostle Paul uses “eu” in reference to the commandment of children to honor their parents “that it may go well (eu) and that you may live long in the land” (Ephesians 6:3 ESV).i
The second half of “euodoo” is “hodos,” which is used 102 times in the New Testament. Strong’s describes it as a road. It’s translated as “way” 83 times. It’s a path or a way.
Can we call eudoo the “well-way” or the “way of wellness?”ii
It sometimes helps to see the opposite picture of a word in the Bible to better understand it. There are some examples in the Old Testament of when individuals weren’t “doing well.” Of course, in Hebrew, it is a different word, but it is still worth making the comparison.
First, let’s start with the question that God asks Cain. God says to Cain, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:7 ESV)
God, speaking directly to Cain, paints a picture of two paths. One is a path of acceptance and the other is a path of destruction. The charge to Cain was to “do well.” Again, in English, we have this idea of how something is done–not just “to do” but “to do well.”
Second, God asks a similar question to Jonah. God says to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry?” (Jonah 4:4 ESV) God is also coming in and painting a picture with Jonah. He is saying there is a way of doing well and He is asking if Jonah is doing that.
In both stories of Cain and Jonah, these guys are upset. The stories are different, but the common thread of being upset is there. God also confronts them both with this idea of doing well in the context of them being angry.
The title of this sermon is “Wealth in Wellness.” God wanted Cain and Jonah to understand that there was a way of being blessed, a way of prospering, or a way of doing well. And He is describing the gap between doing well and them being angry in these stories.
As far as anger goes, let’s consider what the book of James says. It says, “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; v. 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” (James 1:19-20 ESV)
In this instance, James is speaking to the beloved just as John was. James lays out a lesson in listening, speaking, and reacting. It’s a “Quick-Slow-Slow” lesson. He charges that the first thing to do is to have a listening ear. For Cain and Jonah, God was speaking to them. He was asking them a question.iii
We will not arrive at a place of prospering in our soul as described in 3 John 1:2 if we cannot enact the “Quick-Slow-Slow” charge given in the book of James. Just like Cain and Jonah, we are going to wind up angry. And in both those instances, it was true that their anger did not produce the righteousness of God. Even worse, Cain’s anger took him and his future generations down a dark path, ending in the death of his brother. (Genesis 4:8)
There are a lot of stories that don’t end well. They started out bad and ended worse. We have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:3), so we have all we need in order to live in a state of being well. If we were to put this on a continuum of Cain’s response being the worst and living the abundant life of Jesus being the best, we could be anywhere on that spectrum. So, how do we live at a level of “being well”?
If being well were a destination, it would start out by being in the right place at the right time. You will never wind up where you need to be if you are not in the right place or at least going in the right direction.
King David is an example of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was a time when kings were at war that King David was kicking back at his house (2 Samuel 11:1). He should have been out doing what kings do. Instead, he was on a path that would lead to disastrous results, including adultery and murder.
Jesus said that if we hunger and thirst for righteousness that we would be filled (Matthew 5:6). Can we start by simply saying that we need to be where we need to be when we need to be there? Or, simpler put, the Right Place at the Right Time. I am going to abbreviate that by saying, RPRT. Jesus was always in RPRT. Why? Because He stayed dependent on the Father. He only did what the Father did and said what the Father said.
If there is an area of life that I am not “being well,” is there any connection to where I am at and when I am there? King David was an example of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. From that position, I will never achieve what God is wanting me to achieve.
Referring back to Cain, he was upset with Abel. It would have been better for Cain to get away and work things out instead of being around his brother. God told Cain he knew what he needed to do to be accepted, but Cain went a different way.
Thinking back on Jonah, it was important to note that Jonah was charged to go to Ninevah (Jonah 1:2). That was his RPRT, but, instead, he went the other way. In God’s faithfulness and justice, he brought him back to where he was supposed to be. He ultimately preached to the people he did not want to preach to. (He did not want to preach to them because He knew God was gracious and would forgive the people.) This made Jonah angry as described in Jonah 4. God says to him in that moment of anger, “Do you do well to be angry?” (Jonah 4:4 ESV)
Jonah is upset with God because God acted out of His gracious character, and He pardoned the people of Ninevah. It’s interesting that Jonah fled to another city when he was charged to preach in Ninevah, but after he preached, he decided to hang out to see what would happen. (Jonah 4:5) His work was done. He didn’t want to be there to start with. He could have gone about his business. Instead, he builds a booth to see what would happen. This ultimately led to more frustration and God asking him again if he was doing well to be angry.
Was Jonah at the wrong place and wrong time at that point just to hang around? Likewise, do we linger in some situations that we should have transitioned onto the next thing? Jesus was intentional and led by the Father in His movement. He didn’t hang around unnecessarily. In John 14:31, Jesus says, “Rise, let us go from here.” It was a point in the story where Jesus knew they needed to move on for whatever reason that was at the time.
Jesus understood that He had to be RPRT in order to fulfill the will of the Father. He didn’t linger to allow the enemy an opportunity. Jonah set himself up for more frustration by hanging around a city that he never wanted to go to and then waiting around to see God do what He didn’t want God to do. It was a downward spiral for Jonah.
He ultimately obeyed God by going to the city of Ninevah and preaching to them. But, after preaching, could that have been a great point to say, “Okay, Lord, I have done what you asked. What’s next?”
Jesus said that we would be satisfied when we hungered and thirsted for righteousness. Simply wanting to be where He wants us to be when He wants us to be there is a major step in the right direction.
This is the way of wellness. To be where we need to be when we need to be there. Is that it? Well, not exactly. There is still the part of “doing well.” Not only do we need to be where God is calling us to be and when He is calling us to be there, but we also need to do what He is calling us to do the way He is calling us to do it.
James again gives a great place to start in any situation. Simply, listening quickly, speaking slowly, and getting angry slowly. That’s not to say that we never get angry. Jesus had moments expressing anger (John 2:15 for example), but this again was aligned with what the Father was leading Him to do.iv
What does all this talk of anger have to do with doing well? Well, if it is our own anger or frustration, it could create a barrier for what God is wanting to do in or through us. Once we are angry (in our own frustration), it is hard to make good choices. Cain and Jonah are cases in point, and I can think of examples in my own life that this was true as well. We just don’t do well in our own anger.
So, how do I get from the far side of my own anger to a place of doing well? Of doing well in my soul?
There is a way, but it takes the grace of God. You can’t get there on your own if you are truly frustrated. Grace is the power to do what you need to do in the moment. Grace leans in. It allows for a pause to not say something or do something that is going to take me down the wrong path and me ultimately acting out in the wrong way.
It is good to ask In any situation, where is the grace? If you “just can’t.” Praise God. Paul was there. He “just couldn’t” with the thorn in his flesh and the Lord told Him that His grace was perfected in Paul’s weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9)
The first step in walking in the way of wellness is to find God’s grace right here and now. We need to ask God to unlock His grace. We need to ask Him for a special touch of grace in order for me to do what He is calling me to do and when He is calling me to do it.
How did Jesus live and prosper in His life on earth? He was led by the Father, and He was full of grace and truth. (John 1:14) The grace of God was fully operating in His life. At the same time, the truth of God was evident and in its fullness.
It is crucial to note both grace and truth because grace can help us get to where we need to be but truth can also help us from derailing. Jude 1:23 (ESV) charges believers to “show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.” God’s grace equips us with the strength we need, but we also need the fear of the Lord in His truth. We won’t know how to ultimately walk things out without the fear of the Lord since that is the beginning of wisdom. (Proverbs 9:10).
When we operate in the fear of the Lord and full of grace and truth, it allows us to make decisions that go much further beyond the moment. Being full of truth is being full of the awareness that one day we will all stand before the Lord and give an account for every deed done or left undone. (Romans 14:12) We are not just operating in grace, we are also full of truth. The fear of the Lord helps us stay in the right place at the right time, poised for His instructions to act in the way He is calling us to act.
The way of wellness is arrived at solely by the grace of God, and the truth of God keeps us from getting off track. We can’t live in a place of “anything goes” and simply do what we think is best. The Book of Judges says the people (without a king) “did as they saw fit.” (Judges 21:25 NIV) There was no higher standard; it was simply people deciding for themselves.
We live at a higher standard. The way of wellness is a way of living full of grace and truth. We can’t simply do things our own way, getting angry whenever we want. We can’t decide to go and be wherever we want. We have to be committed to following the voice of the Lord to be in the right place at the right time.
In that space of RPRT, we are committed to living full of grace and truth. That is the wealth of wellness lies–being in the right place at the right time and fully allowing the grace of God to flow into that situation as we stay full of grace and truth for the moment.
May we pursue the Lord in a way that our #1 desire is to be where the Father wants us to be. Being there when He wants us to be there, we then respond to what He is telling us to do in the way He is telling us to do it. That is the way wellness.
When we live a life like that, we will hear “Well done, my good and faithful servant” when we stand before the Lord on “that day.”
May God’s grace be upon us.
Amen and amen.
i As we think about wellness and things going well, it is always a good checkpoint to see how we are honoring our parents. It is the first commandment with a promise. There is a blessing of it going well and living long in the land.
ii It’s good sometimes to break down a word to see how it came together. Of course we use “prosper,” but that word can be overused. We want to be sure to grasp the underlying meaning of a word to not miss how it may apply to our situation.
iii How often do we miss a moment or misfire because we are not taking time to listen to the question God is asking?
iv Jesus was perfect. So everything He did was perfect, sinless. If we act angry and call it “righteous anger,” it would be wise to be sure that we are hearing from our Heavenly Father and responding how He is leading in that particular situation. Otherwise, we could be taking his name “in vain” by acting in anger on “behalf of God.”
