GOD IS THE PROMOTER
If you’ve tapped into
certain talents you were born with, and you’ve made great strides in life,
that’s wonderful. But never make the mistake of thinking your talents or special
abilities originate with you. If you’re good at something, give God the glory. Give Him credit for putting certain wonderful, inventive, creative, and insightful
abilities in you, and give Him the thanks.
The older I get, the
humbler I get. A while back someone told me, “You’re a much better gardener
than I am.” It wasn’t as much of a statement of fact, as a concession speech,
as if we were competing. I was
flabbergasted! I had no idea this person
was competing with me—over gardening? Crazy.
Gardening is a pleasure
for me, a pastime, a hobby. The fact that things grow for me is not because of
my great skill, but because of God. He loves me,
and I love Him, and so my garden grows. God gives me the insight and the direction, and I just follow and have fun. It
works the same with my painting.
I didn’t even start
painting as a career until I was 40-years old. I don’t have a degree. The Lord
Jesus gives me the ability to see and copy. He’s the one who put me on jobs
with prestigious clients—projects other painters would be jealous of. But for me, it’s not about the client; it’s
about the challenge and fun of succeeding in the
painting itself. It’s the Lord who puts the “how to” in me. From my
viewpoint, I’m never in competition with anyone, because I know the Lord is my
promoter, and I look to Him. I don’t have to compete.
If it seems that people
are trying to compete with you, don’t let it bother you. Be happy with who you are. You are only in a
position that others may covet because God put you there. He can do it for them
too.
Psalm 75:5-7 tells us
promotion is from the Lord: “Lift not up your horn on
high: speak not with a stiff neck. 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.”
David was a great warrior
because God made him that way. And Saul started off with the God-given ability
to be a great King, but Saul got covetous of what David had, and it drove him
to mental illness.
1 Samuel 18:6-12 tells us:
“When the victorious Israelite army
was returning home after David had killed the Philistine, women from all the
towns of Israel came out to meet King Saul. They sang and danced for joy with
tambourines and cymbals.
“This was their song: ‘Saul has killed his thousands, and David
his ten thousands!’
“This made Saul very angry. ‘What’s this?’ he said. ‘They credit
David with ten thousands and me with only
thousands. Next they’ll be making him
their king!’
“So from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David. The very
next day a tormenting spirit from God overwhelmed Saul, and he began
to rave in his house like a madman.
“David was playing the harp, as he did each day. But Saul had a
spear in his hand, and he suddenly hurled it at David, intending to pin him to
the wall. But David escaped him twice.
“Saul was then afraid of David, for the Lord was with David and had
turned away from Saul.”
Saul was stubborn. Instead
of being happy with the abilities God gave him, He wanted what David had. But
he couldn’t have it and because of his
stubborn ambition, he also lost his kingship. 1 Samuel 15:23says: “For
rebellion is
as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity [sin
in your ancestors, passed down to you] and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected
the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”
Meanwhile, God
showed David how to avoid Saul, and David
kept his heart in the Lord.
So don’t worry if
you feel others may be a little jealous of you. Just keep looking to Jesus and
be happy with yourself. Let’s be humble
and thankful because all the good things we are, came from Him. Other people don’t
need to be covetous. They can be just as happy as we are if they just do what
we do—humble yourself to Him.
1 Peter 5:6 is
the best step to promotion: “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand
of God, that he may exalt you in due time.” It’s
God’s Word. It always works.
Love, Carolyn
LIFE LESSONS
* * * !!! WINGS: A JOURNEY
IN FAITH
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