PROMOTION

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. —Psalm 75:6-7

Promotion in this world has little to do with merit. Not even in the religious world. Some of the best preachers hold forth in obscure places, while some who cannot and never will preach occupy the prominent pulpits.

God’s way of promotion does not follow the ways of the world. The Spirit “promoted” Philip from a revival to a desert place (Acts 8). God “hides” some of His best talent in unknown corners. He seems to waste some of His choicest men. They get little recognition in this world of contemporary Christian celebrities. Today, as ever, the prophet walks in the steps of his Lord, without honor in his own country.

It comes down to this: Which kind of promotion do we seek? A smart politician who knows the “right” people can attain to considerable prominence down here. But the man who lets God promote him is spared all that fever. God may set him in a high place to the chagrin of some of his contemporaries. If he never gets a newspaper headline, or a “pat on the back,” he won’t lose no sleep over it, for any place is a “large place” if it is God’s place.