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Champions BYTES for 7/7/10: "The Attitude of a King"
by Ed Norwood "And Saul commanded his servants to speak to David privately and say, the king delights in you, and all his servants love you; now then, become [his] son-in-law. Saul's servants told those words to David. David said, Does it seem to you a light thing to be a king's son-in-law, seeing I am a poor man and lightly esteemed?" -The Greatest Love Story Ever Told God made a poor man a king. David was a man after God's own heart, but he was the least in his father's house; a black sheep. Yet he was anointed the next king of Israel and Judah. In 2 Sam. 3:39 David writes, "And I am this day weak, though anointed [but not crowned] king." You can be anointed, but not yet crowned; anointed but not in fulfillment of your true divine potential or destiny. Have you ever found yourself bored or unfulfilled in a job? Do you work part-time, but would rather work full time? Do you work at a job that does not fully utilize your work skills? Like David, you may be categorized as underemployed; it simply means you are not being paid to do what you do best. It is normally during this time that flesh or people will try and convince you to crown yourself before God does. Others will try to kill your anointing. In I Sam 18, David is playing in a worship service and King Saul tries to pin him to a wall with a javelin. David evades him twice. Yet he goes back and continues to work for him. At which time, Saul can't help but bless him. He doesn't even know why, but after he tries to kill David: He promotes Him over a thousand people. Offers him to become his son-in-law He tries to set David up to die in war and instead David kills 200 Philistines as a dowry for Saul's daughter in marriage. Why did God prosper and promote David? I Sam 18 records: "And David went out wherever Saul sent him, and he prospered and behaved himself wisely; and Saul set him over the men of war. And it was satisfactory both to the people and to Saul's servants." (v. 5) "David acted wisely in all his ways and succeeded, and the Lord was with him." (v. 14) "Then the Philistine princes came out to battle, and when they did so, David had more success and behaved himself more wisely than all Saul's servants, so that his name was very dear and highly esteemed." (v. 30) Do you have more success and behave yourself more wisely than others? Notice in the most hostile working environment, on three separate occasions, the passage said, David behaved wisely, then succeeded. Your behavior (attitude) is directly correlated to your success (or altitude.) Because David was resilient in adversity, Saul was even more afraid of David and became his constant enemy. Interestingly, in 1 Samuel 26, when David finds Saul sleeping at night, his servant says: "God has given your enemy into your hands this day. Let me strike him twice!" Yet David replies: "Do not destroy him; for who can raise his hand against the Lord's anointed and be guiltless? David said, As the Lord lives, [He] will smite him; or his day will come to die or he will go down in battle and perish. The Lord forbid that I should raise my hand against the Lord's anointed;" (v. 9-11) David was promoted because he refused to allow his heart to be in offense with God or man. He refused to use his sword (which symbolized his tongue) to touch the Lord's anointed or destroy others to reposition himself. He made a decision: "I won't take the Kingdom, position or promotion like this. If God promised me the throne, He can put me on it." Later, He wrote a song: "For not from the east nor from the west nor from the south come promotion and lifting up. But God is the Judge! He puts down one and lifts up another." (Ps 75:6-7.) He was a direct recipient and "evangelist" of divine and supernatural promotion. As a result, 1 Chr. 12:22 says: "For at that time day by day men kept coming to David to help him, until there was a great army, like the army of God." Today, how are you behaving in the affairs of man? How are you behaving concerning the call, anointing and dream inside of you? How are you evangelizing God's providence and promise on your life in your current job role, church, marriage or home? The Apostle Paul wrote: "Behave yourselves wisely [living prudently and with discretion] in your relations with those of the outside world (the non-Christians), making the very most of the time and seizing (buying up) the opportunity. Let your speech at all times be gracious (pleasant and winsome), seasoned [as it were] with salt, [so that you may never be at a loss] to know how you ought to answer anyone [who puts a question to you]." (Col 4:5-6.) God gave us all different gifts and abilities. If you want to increase your value or become an authority, you should seek to increase as a master problem solver. However, others may desire repetitive tasks as a better fit. But regardless of what path you choose, God still looks on the heart. He doesn't bless a confused heart; He commands His blessing towards a unified one. What is your speech seasoned with during conflict? Can you still produce your best work when hated by others? Are you living prudently and with discretion? Have you seized or lost opportunities in the world with your mouth? Today, you can redeem the times and seasons lost in your life. Just change your attitude. Ed Norwood, a champion in public policy, advocacy, leadership development and marketplace ministry has cultivated a distinctive network of professional and influential leaders across the country. Copyright 2010 All Rights Reserved www.championsunleashed.org Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |