2. Prepare for your ministry
Ephesians 4:12 “…equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry…”
Equipping prepares us to do the work of the ministry. Equipping makes us ready for the specific task that we have been assigned. Equipping fills our arsenal with what is necessary to get the job done. Equipping includes training, study, prayer, anointed impartations, character formation, and experience.
If we fail to prepare for the ministry we have been called to, then in time of adversity and challenge, we could be found lacking and never fulfill our ministry. God isn’t simply interested in our starting an assignment; He is interested in our finishing the assignment and accomplishing the thing we were sent to do.
God is a God that aims to get results. When He sends rain from heaven, He expects the rain to water the seed in the earth and for that seed to grow and for that growth to produce fruit. In Isaiah 55:10-11 God refers to the rain and compares it to His intentions for His word, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” God doesn’t start a thing without expectation of accomplishment. God does not call you without the expectation of you completing your ministry. God will equip you, resource you, shape you, anoint you, instruct you, transform you – so that you will produce results for His glory and bring Him great pleasure.
Character Formation
There are times when the preparation season could be a time of waiting. In waiting on the Lord, you can receive much from the Spirit of God. In addition to your training and equipping, this is a time to consecrate yourself and allow God to work on the inside of you. This is where your character is formed. This is the time, if you yield to it, that you begin to take on the attributes of God, attributes that will help you to accomplish your purpose in the way that brings glory to the Lord. In His presence, we are transformed into the image of Christ, and our character causes us to become a useful vessel that the Lord can anoint for His glory to be seen.
Increasing Faith
Waiting also is a test of our dependency upon the Lord, a time to strengthen our faith. The opposite of faith is self-sufficiency, something that we as human beings tend to lean towards in our flesh. Self-sufficiency is seen when we think we can help God get the job done by going forward in our own strength, using our own ability, and accessing our own resources. However, we need to remember Jesus said that without Him we can do nothing.[1] We limit ourselves when we move ahead of God, and could even possibly fail to fulfill the ministry that God has assigned to us.
Removing Impurities
The preparation season is also a time when the Father might want to address issues in a person’s heart or soul that need His redemption and restoration. Many times we don’t know what is within us until we go through a trial and something is brought to the surface. When God brings something out in the open, His purpose is for that pain or wrongful desire to be recognized and dealt with. If there is a hidden issue on the inside of us, the enemy will try to use it to control us and then to defeat us. Trials are for our good; they are a fire that burns out the dross in our lives so that when we later are challenged, we will not trip and stumble. Trials remove and restore us from wrong desires, so that in time of temptation we are not pulled away from our position, but we stand strong and fulfill our ministry.
It has been said that preparation time is never wasted time. When we are in a preparation season, it is not time to be lackadaisical, but a time to receive all that we need for what we will soon be facing. The truth is, it isn’t just the young who go through a boot camp of preparation; there will be seasons of preparation throughout our lifetime that proceed a new assignment or greater level of anointing. Some seasons of preparation seem longer than others, but the price we pay is not greater than the reward we will receive when we fulfill our ministry.
Take the time God requires of you to prepare yourself. Take full advantage of the seasons of preparation to get all you need to enter into your next assignment. Don’t despise or belittle the seasons of preparation or the seasons of rest, for they are for your benefit, and not only for your benefit, but for the benefit of God to receive the full fruit of your labor of love. Receive all that God has for you. Do not dare to enter into the next season unprepared. For in that season, you will face adversaries, and you need to be ready. You will face obstacles that you need to overcome – so be ready. Be ready, so that when it is required of you to win, you will have what is needed to take your victory and triumph in His name.
[1] John 15:5
