If we are going to be the best stewards that we can be to the Lord, another principle that we need to understand is the importance of our training, and how He trains us to be able to handle more authority and resources. Our training is the investment that God is making in us, and we want Him to get the maximum return for this investment. Remarkably, He lets us determine what kind of return He will get from us by our faith and obedience.
One of the most important parts of our training is described by the Lord in Luke 16:12, "And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?" Because this life is training for reigning, the Lord's goal for His people is that we all learn how to rule, first our own lives, and then other responsibilities and domains that He entrusts to us. However, learning to reign begins with learning to serve others.
Do you want to work for yourself instead of someone else? Then be the best employee your employer ever had. Do everything that you do with all of your heart as unto the Lord. Your true employer, regardless of who signs your checks, is the Lord, and He will reward you.
Even King David, probably the greatest king to yet rule an earthly realm, had to serve the house of Saul before he could be given the crown he was called to have. King Saul was a primary factor in helping David to become the great king that we now know. If you think you have an unreasonable, unworthy employer, think about David's! David's employer even tried to kill him, but David's heart smote him for just cutting off the edge of Saul's robe.
David had such an unwavering loyalty that he remained loyal to his king even when his king wanted to kill him. He did this because his loyalty was not just to his earthly king, but to his heavenly King, who had appointed Saul. We do not war with flesh and blood, but need to perceive the real enemy who is a spirit. We do not just serve flesh and blood either, but must recognize the Spirit who gives authority to men, whether it is a king, president, policeman, or our boss.
As we are told in Psalm 75:6, "For promotion and power come from nowhere on earth, but only from God. He promotes one and deposes another" (TLB). We should not look to men for either our troubles or our promotion, but to the Lord. This is what Joseph realized which enabled him to be used to save the promised seed of Abraham, as well as much of the world during famine. He did not blame his brothers for his troubles, but explained to them that in spite of what they did to him, "God meant it for good" (see Genesis 50:20).
Again, David remained faithful to Saul even when Saul was seeking to kill him. Never criticize your boss, regardless of how much he deserves it because by doing this, you are only disqualifying yourself from God's promotion by failing an important test. The more cruel, unreasonable, and unfair your boss is, the higher the calling that you probably have. However, you must pass the test to be promoted. The test is to do everything that you do as unto the Lord, serving Him and not men, trusting Him for whatever promotion you should have.
David remained faithful to Saul even after Saul died, in direct contrast to the way all kings treated their predecessors. In those times, one of the first things a king did when taking the throne was to kill all potential rivals, including his own brothers. If they took the throne from another family, like David did, then they would seek to wipe out the entire family of the previous ruler so as not to have anyone left who might have a claim to the throne. David did the opposite. He not only honored Saul's memory, but provided for all of Saul's family that he could find. David repaid evil with good, and therefore, God trusted David like no other king—not only decreeing that David's throne would last, but decreeing that even the Messiah would sit upon David's throne, forever.
David knew that the Lord used King Saul to prepare him to be king over Israel. The greatest faith is to remain faithful even when others are not. The greatest integrity is to keep integrity even when others do not. The greatest trials make the greatest saints. Your trials are an investment that God has made in you. Do not waste your trials!
Even if our financial, job, or professional problems are the result of our own mistakes, and we have also failed by having wrong attitudes, we are living in the age of grace, and all of this can be turned around. It does not matter how old we are—we can end this course in victory, and the Lord can even "restore the years that the locusts have eaten" (see Joel 2:25). Repentance can change everything. If you are alive enough to read this, your situation can be changed, and you can experience the victory.
Romans 5:20 encourages us that, "...where sin abounded, grace abounded much more" (NKJV). If we have botched our financial lives, we may be in the best place of all to start experiencing the grace of God in them. Then we will know that it is His grace and wisdom that He supplied to help us, and we will therefore be even more dependent on Him, which is the foundation of true faith. Faith is faith in God, not in ourselves, and not even in our faith, but in Him. In all things, we seek to be more closely joined to Him and a better servant to Him. Regardless of how well we turn our financial condition around, we must always remember that we are just stewards of what we have been entrusted with.