Experiencing The Promotion of god - PT. 2
We are currently in a series about Experiencing The Promotion of God. In my last letter we talked about how: 1) Promotion Comes From God, Not From Man.
If you missed that letter, I’d encourage you to go back and read it here.
This week we will be talking about how: 2) Promotion From God Is Unstoppable.
Perhaps the best example of this comes from the life of David.
God speaks to the Prophet Samuel and tells him it’s time to raise up a new king. He tells Samuel that He has already chosen this new king from the sons of Jessie.
When Samuel arrives at Jessie’s house, all of Jessie’s sons are present—or so Samuel thinks. But David has been excluded from the invite list.
It’s reasonable to think that Jessie knew why Samuel was coming to his house. He knew Samuel was going to choose a new king from among his sons.
But Jessie thinks so little of David that he doesn’t even invite him to the meeting. He’s so certain that God couldn’t use David that he doesn’t even think, “Maybe I should invite David. Just in case.”
Talk about an unjust or unfair leader. Right from the start, the deck is stacked against David.
The second problem is that when Samuel arrives, he sees David’s oldest brother, Eliab, and thinks, “This must be God’s anointed!”
This is yet another obstacle to David’s promotion.
Eliab looked like a king. He was tall, strong, and good looking. He must be the one. But God speaks to Samuel and tells him that, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.”
Samuel goes one-by-one through all of David’s brothers. But God says that none of them is the next king. So finally Samuel asks Jessie, “Do you have any other sons?”
To which Jessie incredulously implies, “There’s one more. The youngest.” Seemingly implying, “But what could you possibly want with him?”
They call for David and the moment he arrives God speaks to Samuel and says, “This is the one. Anoint him as king.”
When God purposes to raise you up, there is nothing man can do to stop it. No unjust, unfair, unrecognizing leader can be your glass ceiling. It is God who raises up and brings low. And no one can stop what God purposes to do.
Promotion from God is unstoppable.
David’s story should teach us some other lessons, too, which we will talk about in the coming weeks. Those lessons include:
Self-Promotion Prevents the Promotion of God.
The Greater the Work, the Longer the Process.
In light of today’s letter, ask yourself the following questions:
Do I really believe that the promotion of God is unstoppable? Why or why not?
The best indication of what you believe is how you behave. Knowing this, what does your life say you believe about God being in control of your promotion? Do your actions say you believe that? Or do they tell a different story?