“Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.”  Matt 25:21

It is a wonderful truth that God desires to promote us. Indeed, he has much bigger things in mind for everyone of us then we are have ever dreamed! That means that no matter where you are in your walk with God, he has more in store. In fact, the Bible tells us that his ultimate intention is to raise us up to rule and reign with him in eternity. Between now and then lie many promotions. So what’s he waiting for?

Preparation. When Wendy and I were first married we were living on a farm. I knew God had called me to minister, but there didn’t seem to be any opportunity to do so. One day as I walked the snow covered fields asking God when – when – when he was going to use me, he spoke to me and simply said, “You just get ready. When you’re ready I’ll use you.” Wow! Well now I knew what to do! I got busy working hard on myself and first thing you know things began to happen. What did I do to get ready?

1.  Heart attitude. This is the most important thing to work on. Without an attitude that Jesus can consistently work with you will stay on the sidelines no matter how talented you might be.

2. Knowledge. Whatever you’re aiming for, you can’t learn enough about it! Read, study, research, seek, and dig. Become an expert in your field. And plan to keep learning for the rest of your life.

3. Spiritual hearing. If you’re going to work with God then you need to be able to hear from God. This is the neglected side of prayer. Listening. Learn to know his voice.

Positioning. If preparation is about your inner life, positioning is about seeing your circumstances come into line. Some people are internally ready to move forward but are held back by things like their age, or financial debts, or lack of experience. We need to make sure that we’re not only prepared but also positioned for promotion. Two things to watch:

1. Faithfulness. There is nothing like solid track record to put you in line for advancement. Faithfulness in the past enables others to see a trajectory of faithfulness into your future.

2. Fruitfulness. Your level of fruitfulness depends on many complex factors: circumstances, resources, colleagues, timing, and a whole lot more. But a fruitful person seems able to put results on the table time after time, regardless of other factors.

Promotion. Some promotions that God gives us are obvious. Others we may not even recognize as such until we walk in it a while. Not until we’re a ways down that road do we realize how much better it is than what we wanted! But that’s really not our concern. Our business is to prepare ourselves and position ourselves. Promotion is from the Lord.

With a promotion may come new authority, opportunities and privileges, but also new responsibilities too. And one more thing – these three words form a cycle. In other words, every promotion puts you into a new level of preparation and positioning and it starts all over again. Are you ready for a new level in 2016?