Austin Bible Church
The timing of promotion belongs to the Lord. We are in the Lord’s hands. Believers need to live their lives one day at a time trusting in God's grace resources and also understand that they should be making the best use of their limited time here on this earth. Believers should always lose out when they get pushy. When believers try to advance themselves without waiting on the Lord, they lose out. If the Lord does not promote you, you are not promoted.
After every human resource had been tried and found futile, it was no accident that Daniel came last. It was the plan of God to reach Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel is God’s man. Daniel did not push himself. He waited for the Lord’s appointed time. There is a right time and a wrong time. Dan. 4:8.
““But finally Daniel came in before me, whose name is Belteshazzar according to the name of my god, and in whom is a spirit of the holy gods; and I related the dream to him, saying, “ (Daniel 4:8, NASB)
Notice how Joshua did not advance himself during the 40 years in the desert. He waited on the Lord. Joshua 1:5-9; Joshua 3:7; Joshua 6:27.
""No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. "Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. "Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."" (Joshua 1:5-9, NASB)
"Now the LORD said to Joshua, "This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you." (Joshua 3:7, NASB)
"So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land." (Joshua 6:27, NASB)
If the Lord magnifies a believer and gives him authority, it is bona tide authority, but if not, the believer should relax and wait on the Lord. Your preparation is the daily function of the grace apparatus for perception in building the edification structure in your soul.
The principle is to serve the Lord quietly, patiently, and faithfully. We are to respond to His Word and to build an edification complex as Daniel did in Daniel chapters 2-4. Daniel spent it in preparation. He did not push to be promoted.
Danger signals come into your thinking that you are not doing your job as unto the Lord. If you are bored on the job, you are not doing your job as unto the Lord. It means your mental attitude is wrong. The job may be routine, but if you are bored, you are not cutting it.
If you find it easy to get into mental attitude sinning on the job, you are not doing the job as unto the Lord. You cannot entertain mental attitude sins on a regular basis and do the job right. Of course, everyone is going to slip with mental attitude sins once in a while, but perpetual sinning in this area is no good.
Your job is something the Lord has given you to do. Therefore, you take it as from the Lord whether it is sweeping out a warehouse or sharpening a pencil. Take it as part of your Christian testimony and life. You sit tight and do not push yourself on others. The Lord can take you from the humblest circumstances and put you in a world famous place, but you have to learn to relax in the most mundane and dull job in the world.
You are different than the rest of the human race. People in difficult times cannot stand routine jobs, they drive them crazy. When you as a believer under the pressure of the Angelic Conflict can do a routine job with a relaxed mental attitude and inner happiness, with all the discipline and training necessary for that job and stay with it faithfully, you are the type of person that God can and will use. It is a triumph of grace that believers are not bored on some job with the routine. Daniel had been out of sight, but not out of God’s sight. He was only out of the mind of the king. Daniel did not regard his temporary obscurity as a setback for his life. He regarded it as God’s blessing and God’s plan.
Often talented people are relatively unknown until they hit the big time. They are obscure, quiet, out of the way people. Sometimes people get desperate for recognition. That is a part of the Angelic Conflict. You don’t have to be recognized. The Lord knows where you are. You aren’t lost somewhere in the shuffle. If you have talent, the Lord knows all about that too. Daniel was loaded with genius, ability, talent, everything. He didn’t jump out, get pushy and ask Nebuchadnezzar if he could get up and give his testimony.
What do you do when you wait upon the Lord? Function under the grace apparatus for perception and learn Bible doctrine, thus growing spiritually. Train in fields where you have ability. You don’t sit and ask God to make you a great surgeon, you study medicine. Don’t be like the little girl that asked God to tie her shoelaces. He didn’t, so she did. Don’t be stupid about this thing.
Be a student half of your life. That’s all right. Never regard obscurity as failure in the Lord’s work. Get that in your right lobe. Obscurity is not failure. Loneliness is not failure in God’s plan. This scares the unbeliever right out of their wits. If you are bored with the same four walls, there is something wrong spiritually and mentally.
Daniel (also known as Belteshazzar) was known by others regarding his spiritual maturity in Daniel 4:9.
“‘O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, since I know that a spirit of the holy gods is in you and no mystery baffles you, tell me the visions of my dream which I have seen, along with its interpretation.” (Daniel 4:9, NASB)