Want a Promotion?

If you want a promotion in your job, typically the expectation is that you listen to your bosse's instructions and follow them, perform above and beyond reproach, your expected duties without having to be told, and be willing to accept criticism without getting defensive. All of the above mentioned requires patience and obedience.

Just as your job has expectations, God also has an expectant nature of you. He says, "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.(Malachi 3:10)" You are not guaranteed your promotion at your job, even after all of your hard work, but God says bring ten percent of your earnings to help advance my kingdom and see if I won't give you more blessings that you can possibly contain. When we are not obedient to the Lord's commands we are robbing Him.

I know in my own life, when I began tithing to my church (I was still single then), the Lord blessed me much more than I could have imagined. It seemed that the times that it looked like I wouldn't have enough money to pay my bills, I always had enough. Or the times I needed gas in my car and I just prayed that I would make it to my next destination even though the gas tank was already on empty...God always came through.

Another time, God out did himself, was when Aaron and I got engaged. We didn't know how we were going to be able to afford to pay for our wedding, given that we were paying for it on our own. The cost of the wedding far outweighed the actual money that we had. About that time, Aaron began tithing to the church and was obedient to God's commands. A couple weeks later Aaron had an accident that caused his jeep to flip over about four or five times; his jeep was totaled, but Aaron only came out of the accident with some bruises, a slight concussion, and four or five staples to close up a small cut on his head. I told him, his guardian angels were watching over him that day; given that they had to get the jaws of life to get him out of the vehicle. If you were to have seen the pictures of the accident, you would have thought someone would have died. Anyhow, enough of that, the awesome part of that whole story was that Aaron was okay, even though he was upside down on the jeep (he owed more than the vehicle was worth), the insurance company paid the vehicle off and gave us $20,000. That allowed us to put a down payment on a car for him and it paid for the wedding, honeymoon, and some of our bills!

Even though that blessing wasn't exactly how we pictured it, it was more than what we could ever imagined. How about that for a promotion! LOL.

When we are faithful to God and what He asks of us, we then allow Him to be faithful to His promises. We must work diligently and obey God's commands. Have you heard this scripture from Luke, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be required.(Luke 12:48)" When God sees that He can trust us with what He has given to us, He is more likely to give us a promotionby allowing opportunities and responsiblities to come our way because He knows that we can be trusted to follow through with His commands; whether that be that He entrusts us with His children, people to minister to, finances, leadership responsibilities, gifts, talents, etc.

Do you want a promotion? How are you using the resources, gifts, and talents with which God has given to you? Listen to what Jesus says: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:24-25) God is telling us that if we are truly willing to commit our whole selves to Him, we will discover the real purpose for our lives. God doesn't always show us our real purpose of our lives nor give us our "promotions" in the way we think. For us (Aaron and I), this cancer thing, has given us so many opportunities to minister to others, it has also allowed me more time to spend with Katie, and has helped me to have a deeper and more meaningful relationship with God, that I am able to share with others like you! If you find yourself in a place where things seem to be going down instead of up, remember God has not forgotten you! Sometimes like Joseph (in Genesis 37) we have to go through "demotion" experiences to be able to prepare for our promotion.

If you or a friend are experiencing rough times in your life, begin to ask God how you can use the resources that He has given you to further His kingdom. Maybe this is the question that you have been needing to ask? Or if you already know the answer to that question, then act on it, be obedient to God's commands.