The Way Up Is Down

Let’s focus on your spiritual life for a minute.  You want to do great things for God.  In your mind’s eye there is a picture of some great ministry or service to do for the Lord.  In fact, you may even be striving to do that right now.

A quote that may help is this: “If all people were as anxious to get to the bottom as some are in climbing to the top, they would have no trouble in reaching both places.”  That describes the problem you may have.  You focus all your attention on reaching the top.  It consumes you.  The problem is that as you strive more and more in reaching the top, the further away it seems to get.  The key to reaching the top is to do the lowly things at the bottom first.  In time the Lord God will bless those efforts and prosper you.

This is clearly stated in 1 Peter 5:6: “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time.”  This means you are to be content with the small, mundane tasks God places in your life.  Focus your attention on doing them well, not on completing them to move on to better things.  The time to move toward a higher calling is not your decision.  This verse says that the Lord God gives you a higher calling “at the proper time” of His choosing.  A promotion is in order, but it is dependent totally upon God’s timing, not yours.

Yes, God wants you to be faithful and content doing the tasks He places in your life.  Put your attention on performing the ministry that God has placed in your life with all your ability.

Wherever God has placed you, attack that area with enthusiasm.  As you diligently and faithfully serve in that capacity, God in His time will use you more.  You can confirm that the way up is down.  That new ministry may just be around the corner.