Steve Lumbley Testimony- 4

Romans 13:1
Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

You probably think the above verse applies to nations and rulers and you’d be correct about that but did you also know it applies to your boss. It says all power is ordained of God. Even the guy you work for. Even if he is the biggest heathen on the face of the earth. Even if he is the biggest jerk you ever had the displeasure to meet. The fact is that he is in his position because God put him there and you are working for him because God put you there. When you disobey your boss it is the same thing as disobeying God. Here’s how I learned that lesson.

I went into fleet sales fully expecting to continue the success I had been having in my previous department. In fact I was sure I’d do better because I didn’t have that idiot manager breathing down my neck and I would have more freedom to do things the way I wanted to do them. Well it didn’t quite work out that way.

After six months in fleet sales I was about to starve to death. Nothing was working. I couldn’t find customers and when I did find them we didn’t have what they wanted. Everything was falling apart again. I couldn’t sell ice water in hell!

In the natural this should have been the perfect place for me but I was soon seeing what was happening in the Spirit. God was showing me very clearly that all my success was due to Him, not to me. He was showing me that he could shut off the pipeline just as easily as He had opened it. And that was exactly what He was doing. Because of my rebellion and disobedience God was putting me back to the very place I had been before.

Hebrews 12:6-7
For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Did you know that God chastens and scourges us to bring us to correction? Do you understand that this is a good thing? That the reason He does this is because He loves us? Many people today have an improper view of God and how he deals with us. A new theology has arisen in the church in recent years. It is a false view of God. It is a theology that says good things come from God and bad things come from the devil. Is this what you believe? Do you start fighting the devil every time something bad happens in your life? If you do, you will never see Gods attempts at correction and you will never repent of your wickedness.

After six months of misery I finally decided I’d had enough. I repented before God and of course He had me do something I didn’t want to do. I also had to repent before man. I had to go back to my old boss in my old department and tell him I was sorry about what I had done and that I would like to come back to work for him if he would allow it. Let me tell you that will absolutely rip the pride and arrogance out of your heart in a hurry. It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do but I knew I had to do it.

The end result was that I was allowed to return to my old department. Because of my obedience God once again began to prosper me. It wasn’t always easy. In fact my manger didn’t change at all. He was still a tyrant but I changed my approach. I still didn’t like the way he dealt with me but somehow I managed to bite my tongue and do what he asked.

After almost three years of selling cars God moved me into a management position. This was an answer to prayer. I was getting tired of selling and I was getting tired of dealing with my manager. I was doing it but it wasn’t fun. I prayed that God would allow me to do something else or go to work somewhere else but I always added that I was willing to do Gods will even if it meant staying in that position forever. I was determined that I was not going to make the same mistakes again that I had made before. I was not going to go out seeking my will. I was not going to be rebellious. I was going to wait on God if it killed me. At times I thought it would. But ultimately God was faithful.

I spent four years as Internet Sales Manager. This was a new position at the time but God had already showed me how to do the job before it even existed. I remember thinking while I was still a salesman about how we as a dealership could use the internet to sell more cars. God arranged for me to have the opportunity to put those plans into effect.

Because of this I had a great deal of success in this position. We actually became one of the top internet sales departments of any dealership in the country. I made good money and got some recognition for my efforts.

There were still issues I had to deal with. After my first year in this position we got a new General Manager who was not as easy for me to work with as the previous one. We butted heads over several things. That may sound like I was in rebellion again but let me explain. I never felt like submission to authority meant I always had to agree with everything my boss wanted to do. In fact I felt like it was my job as a manager to express my opinion especially when I thought a decision was bad for my department or for the company. Even though I would express my opinion, sometimes in a strenuous or intense way, I always made it a point to add that I would ultimately abide by the decision of management. And that’s what I did.

Do you know that because I did that, because I humbled myself to that authority God made peace between me and my boss. I don’t mean we became the best of buddies because we didn’t. But we did develop a working relationship that allowed both of us to do our jobs. In fact God arranged it so that he eventually pretty much left me alone and let me do my job which I thought was perfectly fine.

There is much more I could say about the things God did during this time but the most important thing He was doing was preparing me for the work He now has me doing. It was during this time that God showed me that he had called me as a watchman. He began to prepare my heart for that purpose. He did that by continually exposing things in my heart that were not pleasing to Him. I can tell you that it still isn’t pleasant but once you’ve been through some of the things I’ve been through you get to where you recognize the dealings of God sooner than you did before. You get to where you will quickly repent of these things so that they don’t hinder you in your walk.

The conclusion to this testimony tomorrow afternoon/