God Is Behind Your Promotion

For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.  But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.

Psalm 75:6-7

Isn’t it ironic that so many people get upset and question God when things are going negatively in their lives…? So many people want to go to their pastors or friends for a (n) answer to their troubles or to simply encourage them to keep the faith when storms come their way… It never ceases to amaze me at how many people will look at the negatives in this world in use that for the basis of their argument against the realness of God; however, how often do we apply this same measure when we are blessed or things are going well… When the storm passes and the rainbow shines, how much praise do we lift up to the Most High? See today’s focus verse teaches us that all promotions, all blessings come from the works of God and not your own hands… James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” Understanding this fact leads us to a question that we all must answer, how often do we take credit for a level of success in our lives? How often do we thank our boss for recognizing the work we have done or contributed to the excelling of a company? The psalmist reminds us of who is in charge and has the final say to our everyday situations. Understand that nothing can be done without the approval of God, remember Job was successful, but was stricken when God allowed the devil to wreak havoc upon him, remember Jonah was fleeing and God caused a storm to rise upon him and humble him to the point where he could be used. Job received far more than he had before and Jonah went on to preach and get a city to repent from danger. Job later says do we take good from God and not evil? We have to come to the conclusion that God holds our fate and has promised to provide all that we need. So, when you are low on funds and receive that bonus, thank God. When you are worried out of you mind about your job in this economy and your Boss assures you of your safety, praise God. God is the judge, He will humble whoever needs to be humbled; likewise, He will lift up whoever deserves to be lifted! Notice that the psalmist speaks of the promotion not coming from the east, west or south… He doesn’t say “north” for a reason in this passage, when we speak of going north on a route we equate that with going up and the psalmist wants us to know that the blessings don’t come from below us (south) or around us (east and west) but from above (north) through God’s grace and mercy…God is a just God and will take care of any and every situation… When you receive the breakthrough you have looked for, remember who gave it to you… When you receive praise for God works, remember “to God be the glory…” A lot of times we take the credit when we find favor in anything that we do or are apart of, at the same token, we blame God when things don’t turn out the way we imagined or wanted them too… The psalmist wants us to acknowledge God in all that we do and all the blessings that come our way… Don’t live a double life; humble yourself before the Lord before He humbles you… That’s why the psalmist says He putteth down one and setteth up another… When we go on our ego trip, God will bring you back down to reality real fast. A friend of mine wants told me that we must remain humble as we climb the ladder of success and not become arrogant or prideful; because the same ladder we climb up is the one that we will surely use to come back down… In other words, don’t humiliate yourself by thinking you have “made” it and are better than everyone else, because when God humbles you (and He will) you will need a friend to lean on… Keep everything in your life in the proper context, know that God doesn’t make mistakes when you are humbled, but also have faith in knowing that your breakthrough is on the horizon… I believe Paul (who was humbled and exalted by the Lord) said it best in his letter to the Church of Rome, “know that ALL things work together for the good of those who LOVE the LORD!” If you love God, understand that His blessings come in many ways, even in ways you would least expect; like on your job!

BE BLESSED!!!