God’s Promotions

A Bible Message by Bayless Conley

Copyright © 2005 Answers with Bayless Conley

I want to talk to you about God’s Promotions, about how God promotes. Hopefully, at some
point in the message there will be something that will help you wherever you might be in your
life right now. Whatever you may be facing in your life, whatever kind of struggle you may be
going through, hopefully you will get something that will help you on your journey. Psalm 75:6,

6 ¶ For exaltation comes neither from the east nor from the west nor from the
south.
7 But God is the Judge: He puts down one, And exalts another.

Exaltation comes from God. The King James Version says promotion does not come from the
east or from the west or from the south, but God is the Judge. God is the One that decides who
gets promoted, when they get promoted, how they get promoted, and where they get promoted.
Exaltation and promotion come from Him.

Now promotion may come in many areas of life. It may come in ministry; it may come in
marriage, favor in relationships, in business; but we must realize that it comes from God.
Hopefully, you will not end up where you started out in life. Hopefully, you are growing;
hopefully, you’re increasing; hopefully, you have a vision for bigger and better things. As an
example, assume somebody starts off as a waiter in a restaurant. They do a good job. They
work hard. Maybe they are Christian; they tithe; they trust God; and pretty soon they get
promoted to Assistant Manager, which sometimes is not a whole lot more money. It ends up
being a lot more work. Eventually they become a manager of the restaurant and end up owning
their own restaurant; and then perhaps even owning a few restaurants. It’s a matter of
promotion.

I think about it in marriage. Janet and I, after 21 years of being married… we are a little over a
month away from our twenty-second year of marriage… we are not where we were 21, almost
22 years ago. We have grown. Our love has grown. Our understanding has grown. Our ability to
communicate and to relate to one another in every arena… from sexuality to just hanging out
and being with one another, has had growth; and there should be. We are created for that. God
is not a stagnant God, and He does not want you to remain stagnant or static. He wants you to
grow and to increase.

Now what I do is preach. I am a minister of the gospel; but what I do now is not where and how I
started out. I got saved, and I was out in the park with my guitar and a handful of tracts, passing
out tracts and playing my guitar for anybody that would listen. Then I spent years ministering in
rest homes. I preached on street corners. I mean, literally, three days a week, I was in rest
homes visiting people that nobody loved anymore. People had forsaken their own family and did
not visit them. I would read them stories every single week. I learned all these old funky songs
on the guitar, and I would go in and play these old songs that you have to have a hymnbook that
was printed in 1828 to sing along with. Then I served another man for several years in his
church, and then we started Cottonwood in August of 1983. There has been a process. It’s not
that what we are doing now is more important. Everything, at every stage, was just as important;
and if Jesus would have come then, the reward would have been the same. He is just looking
for faithfulness.

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The point is, there is growth, and there is change. There should be growth and change in your
life, as well; but there is a process that goes on. A lot of people do not want to go through the
process. They just want the promotion. They want a million-dollar-a-year business handed to
them. They want a wonderful marriage with no work, no sacrifice, and no personal change
required. They want a church of 500 handed to them the first week they graduate from Bible
school. Friend, there is a process to God’s promotion; and I want to share four things today
that are involved in understanding how God promotes. I think these four things will help you
because, again, promotion and exaltation do come from God. He puts down one, and He sets
up and exalts another.

1. THE END IS DETERMINED FROM THE BEGINNING

The first thing I want you to understand is that the end is determined from the beginning. God
sees the end from the beginning. He already has a plan for you. God has already got the
whole thing worked out. For me, that helps me rest at night. I do not have to figure this whole
thing out. Sometimes we see through a glass darkly, but you know what? God sees everything
perfectly. God told this to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:4-5. He said, “Before I formed you in the
womb, I knew you; and before you were born, I sanctified you. I ordained you a prophet
to the nations.” All right, before he was ever born, God had his destiny, a plan for his life, all
worked out. It was not where he started, but it was where he ended up.

Look in Ephesians 1. The end is determined from the beginning. God already has a plan for
you. Ephesians 1:4,

4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love,

Did you know you were chosen before God laid the foundation for this world? That is a long time
ago. God knew you before you ever existed. God knew you before the world was here… you
were chosen in Him. You were not an accident. God knew you. Look in Ephesians 2:10,

10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which
God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

The “beforehand” is before the foundation of the world. Just like God knew you, he prepared
these good works for you that you should walk in them. He had the thing mapped out. Listen to
verse 10 from the Amplified Bible. It’s beautiful! It says, “For we are God’s own handiwork, His
workmanship, recreated in Christ Jesus, born anew, that we may do those good works which
God predestined, planned beforehand for us, taking paths which He prepared ahead of time that
we should walk in them – living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to
live.” I like that! “Living the good life that He has prearranged and made ready for us to live.” He
has plans for you. God has things prearranged for you. Every season of promotion in your life
has already been planned in detail. Nothing takes God by surprise. He works everything
according to the counsel of His own will.

Someone might ask, “Well, how do I discover the good works He has for me? How can I walk in
those good pathways that God has prepared?”

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Well, let me share a couple of thoughts with you. Look to your passion and consider your
impact.

Your passion can point to your purpose. Desire reveals design, and design reveals destiny.
That’s worth writing down and thinking about a little bit.

I have a friend who is in ministry, and he is a passionate preacher; but he also has another
passion in his life, and it is an interesting one. It’s real estate, but it’s not so much getting real
estate for himself. He looks historically at preachers and pastors who have given their all for the
gospel, and then they are up in their seventies, and they have no retirement or some pittance to
live on. I think about George and Ruth Stormont. George, what a prince of a man! He was
saved under the Jeffreys’ ministry in Great Britain; he was dear friends with Smith
Wigglesworth, and wrote the most prominent book on Smith Wigglesworth’s life. He was a great
English preacher. He used to come in the pulpit here. He had this incredible baritone voice. He
pastored a church in Duluth, Minnesota, for thirty-some years and retired, and they gave him
nothing. He had nothing at all. He could not have made it unless Cottonwood supported him. I
vowed, “George, we will take care of you as long as you live.” Then he actually went into a rest
home, and I went out to visit him, and I said, “George, don’t worry about Ruth. We will take care
of her as long as she lives.” And we did. We took care of Ruth until she went to be with Jesus.
We took care of George, but it should not have to be that way. Yet you find that all the time. So
my friend’s passion is to help pastors and people who minister to think about investing in a
home and parlaying that into some different real estate investments so that they have a future.
When you talk to him about it, it is the weirdest thing. It is almost like there is this anointing on
him the same way when he preaches. There is this passion, this desire to help ministers so that
they do not end up with nothing when it’s time to turn the work over to somebody who is
younger in the next generation. A lot of guys want to hang onto things, and they do not want to
let go, and that’s because that is their only source of income. So when they should turn things
over to somebody else, they are hanging on; and it is long past time when things should have
been turned over to the “Joshua” who is coming up. So I was thinking about him this afternoon,
and he is utterly passionate. I think he has a gift from God. In fact, he has some things
formulating to help ministers in this area. I think that desire is a revelation of one of the things he
has been designed to do which is, in turn, a revelation of his destiny.

So you need to think about the things you are passionate about, the things where your
desire is, and what you have been designed to do, because it is a revelation of your
destiny.

Then, from a practical aspect, I would say consider your impact. Where have you had a
positive impact upon people? If you just look at your life, where is it that you have impacted
people, that you have made a positive impact on situations and individuals? Is it helping to solve
problems? Is it through writing or coaching or through creating something? Where is it that you
have an impact? All of us impact people in one way or another.

When I was a teenager, I left home and moved to Utah. I lived there for a winter in the back of
my truck at the base of a place called Alta. It was a ski resort. I would freeze in my truck, and
then get up and ski all day. I ran into these guys who were drunks like I was, so we just drank
together all the time. There was one guy whom you would think was just sort of a mindless
drunk, but it was the most amazing thing. We would be in a room full of people, and when he
would open his mouth and begin to speak, he captivated the whole room every time. It was the
most amazing thing! Whatever people were doing, they would stop. He was so articulate, and
the things he said made such sense. He was such a brilliant thinker and had such an ability to

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communicate those thoughts. In fact, to this day I don’t think I have met anyone who is able to
communicate like this young drunk could. I have thought about him a lot because he had an
impact on people when he spoke. Now I don’t know what happened to him. I mean, I got saved,
and God has done something with my life. Maybe he has gotten saved. I don’t even remember
the guy’s name, but you know what? I think that impact he had to be able to arrest people’s
attention meant that maybe his design was to be an actor. Maybe his design was to be a
preacher. Maybe it was to be a civic leader and to lead the community. Maybe his design and
his purpose in life was to be a public speaker in some way because he had this natural impact
on people.

You have an impact in one way or another, as well, and I ask you to take a look at your life.
Maybe ask a trusted friend, you know, “What is it that I’m good at? Where do I help people?
Where do I have a genuine impact on people?”

Then from a spiritual standpoint, I would just say: Make the pursuit of God your number one
priority. Seek Him in prayer and in His word, and you will be guided into God’s will for your life.
In fact, I am convinced that if you will just stay full of the Spirit and be obedient to God, you will
become naturally fruitful in certain areas. At that point, your fruit will identify you, and you do not
need to identify the fruit. I think as you follow God and endeavor to be led by the Spirit and stay
full of the Spirit, that you just become fruitful in certain areas, almost naturally, without even
trying. Then you do not have to tell people who you are or what you do. Your gifts identify you.
In fact, if you have to tell people what you are, chances are you are not. If you have to make
sure everybody reads the label on the can, “Okay, this is what I am. See my label.” More than
likely, there is nothing in the can. Let the contents of the can identify the can. I am convinced
from the years that I have walked with God, if you will really truly make God the number one
pursuit of your life, endeavor in earnest to grow in God, grow in the knowledge of His word, stay
full of the Spirit and pray, I think God will lead you. He has a way of getting you into His will, and
as you begin to serve God, fruit is naturally born in your life in certain arenas. When that
happens, the fruit identifies you.

2. TESTING COMES BEFORE EACH PROMOTION

Even though God’s calling is by grace because it was before the foundation of the world, there
are two things that we must demonstrate or two tests that we must pass in order to be
promoted.

Now my son, Spencer is going to be testing for his black belt in karate. He has been at it for a
long time. He did not start in karate two months ago. He has been doing it for years. He started
with a white belt, and then he got a yellow belt, and then he got an orange belt, and then he got
a purple belt, and then he got his first blue belt, and then he got his second blue belt, and then
he got his first green belt, and then he got his second green belt, and then he got his first brown
belt, then his second brown belt and his third brown belt, and now he is going to be testing for
his black belt. Along the way, he had to learn things, and there was testing with every one of
those things. Every time, before he got promoted, there was a test; and the same thing is true
with God. Testing comes before each promotion.

There are two tests in particular. Number one is the test of humility. Proverbs 15:33 says,
“Before honor is humility.” God looks at the heart, and He knows if humility is there or if it’s
not. Before honor is humility. Look in James 4:6,

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 6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives
grace to the humble.”

And then in verse 10,

10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord…

And what happens?

…and He will lift you up.

He will promote you. He will exalt you; but what comes before God lifting you up or promoting
you? You humble yourself in His sight.

In Matthew 23, Jesus was warning His disciples and the multitudes about the scribes and
pharisees who were absolutely eaten up with thoughts of promotion and recognition and special
treatment. They wanted the best seats at the banquets, they wanted everyone to greet them
and say, “Hi Rabbi!” In the marketplaces, they wanted all the attention; they wanted all the
applause, and it was what their life revolved around: Self-promotion. Jesus said this in regard to
Matthew 23:11-12, “But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever
exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Our job is to
humble ourselves; God’s job is to promote us. Now if we try to do God’s job for Him, He will
have to do our job for us. I would rather let God do His job, and I am just going to try and be
faithful at doing my job.

We read in Psalm 75 that God puts down one and He exalts another. It is a grand day when the
soul finally realizes that the way up in God is down. And you will never be promoted by God until
you lower yourself in your own estimation.

Look at Philippians 2:5,

5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,

In other words, you think the same way. Have the same attitude.

6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
7* but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and
coming in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became
obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is
above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of
those on earth, and of those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of
God the Father.

Because Jesus humbled Himself, God highly exalted Him. Because He made Himself of no
reputation, God lifted Him up to this place of prominence. Let’s read on. Verse 12, “Therefore,
my beloved…” Now what’s the “therefore” there for? You have to tie it to the previous thought:
humbling yourself.

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 12 ¶ Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence
only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling;
13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

In other words, if God’s good pleasure and His plan are to be worked out in our lives, we must
walk in humility. It is a prerequisite for God that, if this thing He has planned before the
foundation of the world is going to happen, one of the tests we have to pass is that test of
humility. Jesus humbled Himself, God highly exalted Him, and at that point no demon in hell
could do a thing to prevent it. When God promotes you, no person, no demon, and no ungodly
system can keep you back. God’s exalting power is irresistible. It is undeniable, and it is
undefeatable. Friend, when you pass the test and God decides to promote you, no one can
keep it back. No company can keep you back; no system can keep you back; nobody who
wants to can keep you back. They cannot keep you down. Think about Jesus and what He did,
how He humbled Himself to the point of death, even the death of the cross, and God exalted
Him to the highest seat in the universe. Could anything stop it? No. And if you will let the same
mind be in you, God’s good plan that He has planned for you that He is working out cannot be
thwarted; but, again, a humble heart has to come first.

Sometimes you listen to some people talk, and it’s, “I did this,” and, “When I did that,” and, “You
know, I just want you to know that they have success, but I’m really the one that’s responsible
for it.” They may not say it that way, but they make it clear that you understand that. Proverbs
27:2 says, “Let another man praise you and not your own mouth.” A man or a woman
wrapped up in themselves makes a mighty small package. When God does promote you, you
have to remain humble if you are going to retain your usefulness to God, because the Scripture
says pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. There are plenty of men
and plenty of women who were on top that are on the bottom now, and I think we all know
examples in ministry, outside of ministry, and just in general in life. I think of one minister who
talked about his ministry and said, “No one is doing what we’re doing throughout the world, and
God needs us to carry on this work. The world cannot be reached without our ministry.” He was
making a plea for people to support it; and he was doing an incredible work in a lot of different
countries. But the moment you say, “God cannot get along without me,” Humpty-Dumpty, you
are headed for a fall! That man is no longer in the position of prominence that he was in, and
God seems to have gotten along fine without him. It is just an amazing thing.

Test number one is the test of humility and test number two is the test of faithfulness. In
Matthew 24:45, Jesus said that it is the faithful and wise servant who is made ruler over the
house. In Matthew 25:21, Jesus said, “If you are faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler
over many things.” According to 1 Corinthians 4:1-2, faithfulness is a requirement for ministry.
Look at 1 Timothy 1:12. Look at what Paul said,

12 ¶ And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He
counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry,

Now he said Jesus did three things here. “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who…” number one,
“has enabled me.” Jesus is the enabler. He is the One who puts the gifting in you; He is the One
who gives you talent; He is the One who gives you the ability. He enables you.

The second thing Paul said Jesus did was “counted me faithful.” Apparently, Jesus is watching.

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The third thing: “He put me into the ministry.” In other words, Jesus opens doors that no man
can shut. When the way is blocked, friend, Jesus can make a way where there is no way. It is
not enough just to be enabled. You know what? There are some of the greatest and most gifted
and talented people in the world who are living far, far below their potential and they do not
seem to be promoted by God; and yet the enablement is there, and the gifting is there. Yet
Jesus is watching, and He has not been able to count them faithful yet. Having the gifting is not
enough. Now you need to have both. There must be faithfulness, as well, before Jesus opens
doors. Now I am not talking about self-promotion. A lot of people scramble to the top and leave
a whole line of wreckage of human lives behind them. That is not God’s promotion. God’s
promotion works far different than that.

I remember listening to an older minister who shared that many people who were involved in
ministry during the Second World War went to work in the shipyards and different places like
that. It was not because of a patriotic heart. It was because of the pay. At that time ministers
made a pittance. A lot of them could not make it. He was telling the story about a pastor he had
known, who left the pastorate and went to work in the shipyards because he was able to make
all kinds of money that he could not make pastoring his church. The minister was doing a
meeting and stayed in this guy’s home, and he said his wife at night just cried. She said,
“Honey, look at them. He is driving a brand new car. Our car is held together with baling wire
and a prayer.” She said, “His wife has new dresses. I have this old hand-me-down dress. They
have everything a heart could wish for, and we have nothing.” I remember what he said. He
said, “Honey, you just stay with me. We are going to stay faithful to the call of God. God has
called me to preach; and if you just stick with me, God is going to bless us.” You know what?
God did bless him in his life, but there was that season where he had to be faithful and stick to
his guns and continue preaching. Later on after the war, that other man tried to go back into
ministry and never made it. He ended up failing in ministry. Being faithful means you stay to
what God has called you to do through the fat times and through the lean times.

Look in Luke 16:10. Jesus shares a story here and then talks about three things that we need
to be faithful in. These are three really important areas. Luke 16:10,

10 “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much…

In other places Jesus said, “You know, you have been faithful in a little; I will make you ruler
over much.” So number one, you must be faithful in what is least… in the little and the least.
Do not despise the day of small things.

Cottonwood Christian Center sends out a broadcast that goes around the world. It reaches over
a hundred countries of the world. We look at it as a missions outreach, and we are just as
pleased as we can be that God would allow us to partner with Him and be involved and do
something like that. What an incredible privilege it is to be able to do it. Yet, when we started
and God spoke to me about doing it, there was a five-year period when we were on in about 15
cities and little local public access stations. For five years, every week we would produce
programs, and in five years, we never got one phone call; we never got one letter. I never got
one card in the mail. I never had one person in the store say, “Oh, I know you! I saw you on TV!”
Nothing for five years! The only person, as far as I know, who watched during those five years
was God, and I am convinced that He was watching. There are a lot of times when you are
going, “Man, is this having any fruit at all?” Yet you know God has told you to do something.
Maybe there is something in your life right now that is like that. Do not despise the day of
small things. You have to stay faithful at whatever it is that God has told you to do. Stick with it.

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The second thing Jesus mentioned in Luke 16:11,

11 “Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will
commit to your trust the true riches?

Now mammon refers to money. So the second thing we have to be faithful in is money:
Tithing, honoring the Lord with what is His, and in giving and in spending. There is the “B” word.
I know a lot of Christians cannot spell it: Budget. It’s a good thing to learn how to do. It’s a good
thing to get a handle on. You need to learn to be faithful in money matters. In fact, you have to
be faithful in material things before God will set you over spiritual things.

The third thing, you have to be faithful in something that is someone else’s. Verse 12 (Luke
16:12),

12 “And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you
what is your own?

God watches, and He gives us all opportunities to help someone else. And he looks for us to be
faithful in helping another person before He will release you into what is yours. Joseph had to
help Pharaoh with his dream before God saw Joseph’s dream come to pass.

Maybe you can take this right into the place that you work. Maybe you have a dream to be
super rich for the purpose of spreading the gospel. I think that’s great! I think we need a bunch
of gazillionaires in the church… people who do not have sticky fingers, who have a touch in that
area that God can just prosper them and trust them with great things. Maybe you really have a
heart for spreading the gospel. You say, “Man, I would like to see the gospel go around the
world. Pastor, we’re in a hundred countries. Let’s get into 130 countries. You know, I’d like to
pay off the church. And missions organizations which need funds around the world, man, I’d like
to do it.” Okay, that’s wonderful; but first you need to be faithful working for that person you are
working for. You have to be faithful in that which is another man’s. God is not going to open a
door for you to fulfill that dream you have if you do not show up for work on time serving another
man, or if you don’t put in a full day’s work and don’t serve that other person with all of your
heart, or that other company you’re working for. It’s a kingdom principle.

Faithfulness is the second test. You have to be faithful in the least; you have to be
faithful in money matters, and you have to be faithful in that which is another man’s.

3. REALIZE THAT GOD’S PROMOTION MAY LOOK LIKE A DEMOTION AT FIRST

Number three, realize that God’s promotion may look like a demotion at first.

In Genesis 37:5-7, Joseph has a dream, and he tells his brothers, “We were in the field
gathering sheaves, and my sheaf rose up, and your sheaves came and bowed down to my
sheaf.” His brothers got really upset. In fact, the Bible says they hated him all the more. Then he
had another dream: The sun, moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to him, and his father
became angry because of that one. All right, God is showing Joseph that he is going to arise,
that God is going to promote him to a place of prominence. So what happens? Well, his
brothers throw him into a pit. He is sold to Midianite traders as a slave, and then he is put on the
auction block and sold again in Egypt. And Joseph was probably thinking, “Some promotion!
Maybe I misinterpreted that dream.” Then he was lied about and sent to prison where he spent
several years seemingly forgotten. Friend, the way up is down. It was all preparation for

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promotion. Now God showed Joseph that He was going to exalt him to a position of
prominence, and Joseph thought, “This is wonderful. How is this going to happen?” God said,
“You really don’t want to know.”

So his brothers sold him to Midianite traders. He was taken into a foreign land. He did not
realize it, but that was one step closer to his promotion. Then he was on the auction block. He
got sold into Potipher’s house, and he was thinking, “Man, now I’m a slave two times,” but he
was one step closer to his promotion. Then Potipher’s wife lied, and Joseph was thrown in
prison; but he was one step closer to his promotion. He interpreted the butler’s dream and the
baker’s dream. The baker got taken out and hung; the butler got promoted, but forgot all about
Joseph who stayed in prison for at least two years, but he was one step closer to the promotion.
Then Pharaoh had a dream, and when God started moving, things happened in a hurry. If all of
that sequence of events had not happened, Joseph would not have been in the place, and the
butler would not have been able to tell Pharaoh, “You know what? There is this guy in prison
who interprets dreams.” Then Joseph was brought out of prison, and he shaved, put some new
clothes on, and was brought before Pharaoh. And in a moment of time, he was made the prime
minister over all the land of Egypt.

Now in spite of the opposition and adversity, Joseph kept a sweet spirit. Think of it! He was
suddenly elevated to a position of recognition and authority that he could not have gotten into in
a hundred lifetimes of working and striving in the flesh. God did it in a moment. He was
promoted, not by man but by God; but, first, it looked like a demotion, didn’t it? His character
was being tested and purified. I think when Joseph was sitting in prison, the baker was not
the only one who was taken out and hanged. I think Joseph’s trust in the arm of the flesh was
taken out and hanged by the neck until dead. He was purged in the fire, and he came out pure.

Now look at another example with me in 1 Samuel 16. Remember, God sees the end from the
beginning. Here we have a young shepherd boy. His name is David. Samuel the prophet has
come to Jesse’s house, saying, “Bring your sons here. There is going to be a king among your
sons.” He lined them all up, but he could not find the right one. God says, “Nope, nope, nope,
nope, it’s none of these guys.” Verse 11 (1 Sam. 16:11),

11 And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?” Then he said,
“There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep.” And
Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him. For we will not sit down until he
comes here.”
12 So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and
good-looking. And the LORD said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!”
13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his
brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So
Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

Now David was anointed by Samuel as the next king of Israel. That is a pretty big promotion for
a shepherd boy, don’t you think? There he was out tending the sheep, and the next moment the
prophet in the land was pouring oil on his head and saying, “You are Israel’s next king.” That
must have shocked David. Almost immediately, things began to happen. David was called to
play music before Saul, and he became Saul’s armor bearer. He killed Goliath, and a universal
recognition as a hero and a leader was born in a day. David’s promotion seemed to be working
pretty fast, except Saul became jealous and tried to kill David. David had to flee. He began to
live a fugitive’s life, moving from place to place, living in caves, and being hunted. He was
separated from every one and all the things that he loved. Some promotion! It looked like more

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of a demotion. I mean, it was easier tangling with lions and bears and working with the sheep
than being persecuted by an insane king with a pursuing army. So God anointed him, and
immediately it looked like he had been demoted.

In fact, look at 1 Samuel 22:1, a really interesting couple of verses of Scripture here. I want you
to look at all the people who came to David and note where he was.

1 ¶ David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam.
And when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there
to him.
2 And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone
who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And
there were about four hundred men with him.

How many of you would like to be captain over that bunch? Think of it! Everybody who was in
distress, all the problem people; everybody who was in debt, and everybody who was
discontented. “David, you are going to be Israel’s next king!” Saul was chasing him across the
countryside. He was in the cave; and, all of a sudden, “All right, here is your congregation,
David. Here is your kingdom.” They were all the outcasts; they were all the people with
problems; they were all the people who were unhappy, all of the people who did not have any
money. David said, “Great,” and the next few verses talk about how he had to move his family to
a foreign country just to keep them safe. Some promotion! This persecution went on for years;
but, through it all, David was learning how to trust God and how to manage people. His
character was being tested. He was being fitted by God to wear the garments of a king: The
garment of mercy and fairness and wisdom, the shoes of decisiveness, the belt of strength,
covered with a robe of gentleness; but David was not ready when he walked out of the field as a
young shepherd boy. The fullness of his promotion came in due season, and so will yours as
surely as God promised him it was going to happen.

4. GOD’S PROMOTIONS HAVE THEIR APPOINTED TIMES

It brings me to the fourth thing I want you to know, and I am going to finish with this one. God’s
promotions have their appointed times. They are fulfilled in their season. Ecclesiastes 3:1
says, “To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.”

God’s promotions all have their season, their appointed times. Turn to 1 Peter 5:6,

6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt
you in due time,
7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Those things are tied together. Some of you are frazzled: “God, when is it going to happen?
When is it going to happen?” Just keep your care cast on Him. He will promote you in due time.
Don’t worry about it.

Where it says that God will exalt you in due time, that literally means at the set time or at the
time prearranged by God. When you have proven yourself faithful, demonstrated humility of
heart, and when other events are ready and they are in their proper place. We talked a couple
of weeks ago about Moses who had it in his heart to be a deliverer and a judge. He was just 40
years early. The Israelites were not ready to be delivered yet. God had to work at the other end
of the line. Sometimes, some of the things that God has put in your heart are not a matter of you

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not being completely ready, but there are some other factors that God is working on to get those
things ready; and until those things come together, God will not push you into that position.

The same thing is true even of Christ and His coming. The Scripture says in Galatians 4:4, “But
when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son.” In Galatians chapter 1 it says that
God separated Paul from his mother’s womb and called him. After Paul was saved, he spent
years virtually unknown. Yet the Bible says he was called from his mother’s womb. As far as
having an important ministry, nobody knew him. He spent years in Arabia, Damascus, and
Tarsus, and then came into Antioch and spent another full year there teaching. Then in Acts 13,
God, by the Holy Spirit, says, “Now separate Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I
have called them.” Some Bible commentators estimate that that was 14 years after Paul’s
experience with Jesus Christ on the Damascus Road… 14 years until Acts 13, where God says,
“Now release him to the work that I have for him. Now let’s separate him. Now comes promotion
time. Now I am going to send him out as an apostle, and he is going to establish churches with
the giftings that I have put in him and the enablement that I have put in him. I have counted him
faithful, now I am opening the door.” It was fourteen years before that happened! Timing.

There is a time for your promotion, as well. Somebody says, “What do I do until it comes?” Be
faithful in little things; stay humble; stay sweet.

Four Things:

1. The end is determined from the beginning. God already has a plan for you.
2. Two tests come before promotion: Humility and faithfulness.
3. God’s promotion may look like a demotion at first.
4. God’s promotions have their appointed seasons and times.

I just want to ask a question. Is there anybody here who feels in their heart that God does have
some specific things He has spoken to you down the road. I’m not just talking about you having
a desire for growth in your life, but you have a specific sense that God has put them in you, and
the doors haven’t opened up yet? Promotion time will come.

I have some things I have been sitting on for 25 years that have not happened yet; but I reckon
in their seasons, they will happen. Part of it is me; part of it has to do with other factors that God
has to line up. But you know what? I am going to stay at it, and I am not going to quit.

Copyright © 2005 Answers with Bayless Conley

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