Two people can start in the same place, with the same ability, the same gifts and the same passion. Ten years later one of them is thriving, and the other is still wondering why they are always behind. The difference is rarely magic, and it is almost never a trick. It is something quiet that most people overlook.
No Secret Sauce
Most of us look at successful people and assume there is one small thing behind it. A teenage bass player once watched an instructional video of Victor Wooten, one of the most celebrated bass players alive, noticed his short fingernails, and announced that short fingernails were the secret. Trim your nails and you too can be the greatest bass player in the world.
It sounds ridiculous, but it is how many of us think about success. We go looking for the hack, the shortcut, the one tip that will change everything.
The truth is simpler and harder: the secret isn’t in the sauce. The secret’s in the sand. Behind nearly every life that accomplishes something is a season of practical, private preparation, something that happened in a place no one else saw. Success rarely comes by default. It comes by design.
Paul Went into Arabia
The apostle Paul is the clearest example in Scripture. He wrote 13 of the 27 books of the New Testament. Before he followed Jesus, he was the most highly trained religious scholar of his generation. He was “educated at the feet of Gamaliel” (Acts 22:3), one of the most honored teachers in Jewish history, and he describes himself as “a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees” (Acts 23:6). He came into the faith more qualified than any of the disciples who had walked with Jesus.
And yet, after he met Christ, he did not rush onto a platform. He writes, “I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus” (Galatians 1:16-17). Only “after three years” did he go up to Jerusalem (Galatians 1:18).
Paul was qualified, and he still withdrew. In that season he gained knowledge without demand: time to internalize the revelation of Jesus Christ before anyone needed anything from him.
Think of a young Bible college student who was given a Wednesday night to preach and finished in seven minutes, after preaching his three and a half minutes of material twice. You can get on the platform. You can launch the business today. But if you do not have a well inside you to draw from, you will not be able to do what the moment calls for. Paul did not go into the desert to be isolated or punished. He went into the desert to dig a well.
Joshua Served Another Leader
Joshua spent years in the wilderness as Moses’ assistant. Scripture notes that “his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent” (Exodus 33:11). There is no secret sauce, but serving another leader is about as close to a shortcut as you will find. It gives you:
- Exposure to what happens behind the scenes, including the things you did not know you did not know.
- A seed for your own future. “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). The way you serve others is the way you will be served.
- Connections with the people you will one day need.
- Most of all, an education in how to treat people. Your investment in the people who work for you will produce your biggest success.
Leaders who have never served under anyone often carry unrealistic expectations of the people who serve them. Knowing in your gut what it is like not to be in charge makes you a better leader. Joshua served Moses, and Joshua was the one who led Israel into the promised land.
Joseph Gained Experience Without Benefits
Joseph had a dream that he would rule, and his brothers “hated him even more for his dreams and for his words” (Genesis 37:8). The dream came true. Pharaoh eventually told him, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt” (Genesis 41:41). But before the dream came true, Joseph spent years in the sand, gaining experience from three very different angles:
- With his father, experience without consequences. He oversaw his brothers’ work and tried on leadership in a safe place.
- In Potiphar’s house, resource without control. Potiphar “left all that he had in Joseph’s charge” (Genesis 39:6). Joseph had money to work with but no freedom to make the calls.
- In prison, control without resource. “The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the LORD was with him” (Genesis 39:23). Joseph had full latitude, but nothing to work with.
None of those seasons looked like his dream. Each one taught him how to lead from a different side, and by the time his opportunity came, he was ready for it.
Choose the Sand, or Get Forced into It
Here is the hard part: you can go into the sand by choice, or you can get forced into it, but one way or another you are going. Choosing it yourself spares you from having to get over the hurt before you receive the benefit.
Joseph did not choose prison. He was doing everything right in Potiphar’s house, and when Potiphar’s wife pursued him, he refused her. She made up a story, and he lost everything (Genesis 39:7-20). Potiphar’s wife is a picture of the external force that causes failure: unexplainable, out of nowhere, and often having nothing to do with you.
Most of us have met that force. The job falls through. The relationship ends. The doctor’s report is not what we hoped. When it happens, bitterness can creep in, and we can anchor ourselves to that moment and replay it for years. A season of grief is human. But eventually each of us has to decide whether to live in that moment or move forward and trust the Lord.
Looking back, many believers can trace the timeline and see that the season they resented became the season that prepared them for what came next. It’s not the bottom. It’s the sand.
Nothing Disqualifies You
Maybe you are wondering whether your life can actually change, or whether this is just your lot in life because of how you were raised, who you have been around, what has happened to you, or the mistakes you have made.
Nothing you have done, nothing that has happened to you, and no one you have been associated with can disqualify you from the future God has for you. Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Those who “receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17). And “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).
An incredible life is built on the finished work of Jesus Christ. Take His Word, mix it with a season of faithful preparation, and trust Him with the timing. The secret’s in the sand.