There are different types of promotions. When a human being promotes you, don’t rejoice too much because it is temporary. However, when God promotes you, you are really promoted. Even though you become the president of a country like America, you can only hold the position for a maximum of eight years. When man promotes, it is temporary; only God gives real promotion that no one can interfere with.

Since we know now that the only way to really make progress in life is to be promoted by God, then we need to find out His criteria for promotion. God promoted David from being a shepherd boy to becoming the king of Israel for one simple reason – David was sold out to the will of God (Acts 13:22). David was not a man to argue with God. With David, God’s wish was his command. The reason God gave Jesus a name that is above every other is what He said in John 4:34: “…My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work”.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus wished the cup of suffering for the sins of the world could be taken away from Him, but He said to God, “Not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). When Jesus was teaching His disciples to pray, one of the prayer points He mentioned was: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).

God wants His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Therefore, when He sees someone willing to do His will, He promotes that fellow to a position of authority. If God promotes somebody because the fellow started in humility and submission to Him, but along the line begins to disregard His instructions, that fellow would be demoted immediately. That is what happened to Saul in 1 Samuel 15:24-28. Saul started out well, but somewhere in-between, he preferred to please the people over doing God’s will. Some people have been asking God to promote them, but they have no regard for His will. Promotion will only come when you surrender completely to God’s will.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.