Promotion is from the Lord

by Sarah Brady

“Do not lift up your horn on high, or speak with haughty neck. For not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up, but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another.” Psalm 75:5-7, ESV

Have you ever been up for a promotion, known you were the most qualified—and were passed over for the new position? Or did you go on a job interview and leave, confident that you had landed the job—only to wait in vain for the phone call? Or was there a time when you had put the most hours, effort, or talent into a project—and someone else received the credit? Most of us have been in a situation such as these at some point in our lives; if you’re anything like me, you were frustrated, wondering how the Lord could let injustice happen to you. But is that how God would have us respond to difficult times?

In Psalm 75:5-7, we find an interesting passage of Scripture, in which the Lord states, “Do not lift up your horn on high, or speak with haughty neck. For not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up, but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another” (ESV). I discovered—or, perhaps I should say, really started paying attention to—this passage of the Bible when I was in college. Studying theatre, while exciting, had its own unique set of pressures, especially the pressure to be selected for roles in plays and to make finals in performance competitions.

One year, I was having a particularly rough time. After working very hard on a competition piece, making it to semifinals, and being told by a variety of people that finals were a sure thing, I . . . did not make finals. Then, after I auditioned for a play that same year, the role went to someone else who happened to be a relative of the director . My frustration and discouragement levels high, I sought the Lord.  Was I in the right major?  Was I doing what God wanted me to do?  And, as He so often does in the question-wrought times in our lives, the Lord led me to Scripture, particularly these verses.  He showed me that everything happens in His time. Yes, I may have done a good job at that audition, but that did not mean that He wanted me to be in the play. He could be purifying something in my life by not allowing me to be in that production while He was working away at someone else by having them play the part I wanted. Perhaps I did deserve to make finals, but that did not mean I would always get what I deserved. Perhaps someone else needed extra encouragement to keep on going and I needed to learn from not obtaining what I earned. Would it always be easy? No. Would it always seem fair? Absolutely not. But is He right? Always.

In God’s mercy, He allowed the next couple of years to be easier for me in the area of theatre, but He kept testing me in others. Sometimes, what I thought would be the perfect job, or the perfect position, or even the perfect guy, seemed to just pass by me. Through all of those times to this very moment, I have had this passage of Scripture as a reminder that, when life seems to be difficult, God’s in control. And there’s a flip side to that understanding, one that has been a shield of protection to me. You see, when I have gotten “just the right job,” married “just the right man,” achieved whatever award, I could no longer take credit for it, because I remembered these verses. The temptation to glory in myself, to paraphrase the Apostle Paul, was conquered by the power of the Scriptures. Thus, God received the glory, which is what I think He was after in the first place.

So the next time life’s rough and something you want, need, or even deserve seems to pass you by, think about these verses. And whenever life’s all that you could hope for and more, ponder these truths. Either way, God’s keeping His promise to “put down one and lift up another” for His glory and our good.

Sarah Brady is an assistant professor and a writer. She is married to a wonderful man who is currently in medical school. They enjoy serving together at church, where he teaches a Bible study class and she sings in the choir and in an ensemble. In her free time (what little there is), she likes to read, write, act, and go hiking.  If you would like to comment on this article, feel free to email writers@blessedlady.com.

Words of Wisdom