1 Peter5:6-7 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties (cares) on him, because he cares for you.

This verse contains 2 vital keys to promotion (no I do not think these are the only keys to promotion). First humbling or getting low under the covering of God’s mighty power and authority is a key that is repeated throughout the scriptures. Humility sets us up with protection, under His mighty hand, and guidance through the same mighty hand which also represents direction, power and authority. Becoming humble is a common teaching but we often overlook the simple truth of casting, giving, throwing the weight of anxiety on Him as well. The Greek word used here for anxiety is “merimna” which means “cares” with the inflection of distraction. Hmmm, casting what you care about that is a distraction upon Him.

Let me rephrase the second part of this verse, “…throwing the heavy weight of distractions and anxiety on His shoulders because he wants to see you completely free.”

How much distraction and noise do we have in our lives that are keeping us from true freedom by making us feel we are free yet at the same time they hold us and our time captive? (GULP!) Email, TV, Podcasts, the gym, Facebook, catching up on the last season of_____, maintaining our (desert, river, hunting) toys, researching the newest camera, texting, waiting for the next iPhone/iPad release, boy/girl friend, etc. Have you ever thought, really considered and processed the fact that what may be holding you back from your next great Kingdom promotion is all the distractions in your life? (I write this because I just realized this truth for myself) We so often think we need more education or more mentoring to “step up” but the fact is maybe we need to give God our anxious lifestyle of distractions!
(education and mentoring IS part of the process, you may de-ruffle your feathers)

Our God given promotion appears to be equally linked between humility and giving God our cares (distractions). Now might be a good time to evaluate what cares, anxieties and distractions are in your life. Turning them over will only lead and prepare you for promotion.

“God I give you my attention and I want to give you all my distractions, anxiety and cares. I give you my vacations, I hand over to you my TV and programming, I give you my surfing and all the preparations, I give you my fruitless endless research, my social networks, etc ….. I release all of these cares to you and I trust you will return to me what you see fit for me. Forgive me for my life clutter and now again, open my eyes to my calling.”

Genesis 1: 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.

And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Before a person comes to know God their life is formless and void, full of darkness and there is no order. In the midst of this time the Spirit is hovering, waiting, poised ready and waiting to breathe into the direction of life and help sort the chaos into order.

It is not uncommon to return to the feeling of chaos, darkness and disorder when we lose sight of the Father. During these times the Spirit is poised waiting to infuse our lives, thoughts, souls, and our work as we regain the awareness of our identity and invite Him to change our mind and change again our way of thinking.

Order does not come in darkness, have you ever tried to organize paperwork or a pantry in darkness? It is impossible to properly organize something in darkness, we must bring light to the room to reveal what needs order and how to put it in order.

Our lives need the light of truth to be rid of chaos and bring order to life trials and challenges.

Without His light we will slowly (sometimes quickly) descend back to chaos and darkness.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day…6 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness.

When our mind is set on a life in the kingdom we reside in the greater light, the light of day where growth occurs at a natural rate and everything is in brilliant light, easy to see and easy to keep our heading and direction. This greater light is the light of Father God where there is no shifting of shadows and no darkness resides.

When we allow life to darken our view we walk into the lesser light our growth slows often stopping completely. There is not much growth at night in the lesser light and everything is seen in shadows, direction must be carefully calculated and much attention must be paid your path in order that you do not fall. This lesser light is is a reflection of God but not the true light. Following man, following a movement, following a political system will only reveal shadows and outlines of reality.

The Spirit is always hovering, waiting to infuse us with love and power as we walk out of darkness into the light, but we must begin to walk. We must decide to take a step (towards order), there is often an action, word, thought or change required to make way for the Spirit to move through us. In the same way we invite Jesus to live in us, in the same way we walk away from an old life style or flawed way of thinking, we must make a decision to walk into light. These are the times we receive revelation because we are partnering with the Spirit who has been hovering, waiting for our invitation.These are the times we experience rapid growth in our walk with God.