IN SEASON OUT OF SEASON
BECOMING A SEASONED MINISTER

Ecclesiastes 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…

Daniel 2:21 He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them.

The term is often associated with a minister's gifted speaking ability, but it means so much more than that. It refers to the maturity a minister arrives at after enduring many long seasons.

We’re undergoing a seasonal transition right now. Winter is trying to stay, but summer wants in and the wind and the rain and everything else is bursting forth to do its thing. One day we have warm sunny weather, the next day it’s a blizzard. It’s chaotic, yet necessary. And we’re all anticipating the final result… summer.

The Christian will undergo many seasons and many trials in the process of change and transformation. “Dead to self and alive in Christ” requires the absolute destruction of self… and that takes time.

The trying seasons we face and their tumultuous transitions are designed to strip us of SELF. All of our ambition and desire to succeed or be elevated must be put to death before we can ever begin to know the Holy Spirit’s power in and through us. The flesh is so powerful. One ounce of self will inevitably get in the way of our ability to rely on God and be directed by Him. Brokenness is essential for this, and seasons of trial are designed to break us.

We want to do it ourselves… we want the control, we want to get the recognition. It’s the nature of the beast. SELF is just that, totally and absolutely driven to succeed, driven to achieve, driven to prove that we can do it. The world’s way of achieving and elevating oneself is so well evidenced in a program called “The Apprentice”, hosted by the rich and mighty Donald Trump. When the gloves come off in the board room, there are no ethics worthy of losing the battle. People will fight to the death to crush their opponent in order to elevate or protect themselves. These behaviors are completely counter to the way Jesus exemplified how we should live. But these behaviors are weaved throughout our sinful nature and can only be removed by the intensity of a spiritual heat wave or starved by a season of drought.

It shouldn’t surprise us that people will use the same aggressive tactics seen on The Apprentice to get ahead and succeeded in ministry. That required stepping on a few people who were in the way of their vision. The human nature is a savage beast. Some preachers have referred to it as a monster, totally depraved and hideous, capeable of the most ruthless deeds imaginable. The thirst for power and notoriety is one of its most enviable desires. That desire will kill a Christians ability to walk and live by the spirit of God and to rely on His guiding hand rather than self-motivated propultion.

I hear a lot of rhetoric coming from pulpits encouraging Christians to “follow their dreams” in order to succeed and achieve something Big for God. We are hearing about how we can do anything we put our minds to, how God can use anyone… that if you dream big enough and want it bad enough, you can do anything!! But this message is both misleading and dangerous in that it puts the emphasis on self-motivated initiatives and ambitious desire rather than God-pleasing, God-ordained purpose. Not one of us can impress God with our abilities, nor can we achieve a calling to ministry by our own determination. The call to ministry is not an audition or a job interview where the highly qualified compete for a position. The call to ministry is ordained by God alone, and He alone equips the called.

Joseph had a dream, but it wasn’t inspired by his desire, it was placed upon him. ANd the road to its realization was not pretty. I’m certain, that if he had any idea what he would have to go through to see it realized… he would have done everything in his power to avoid it. Pick any biblical character who was chosen by God… Moses, David, Paul, even Elijah… and you’ll find they all had this in common… they all suffered seasons of turmoil, trial, and hardships. Such are designed to crush SELF in order to produce a broken vessel.

God will use seasons to kill your ambition and all self-directed passions. Seasons can be long painful processes. It is in those times of darkness, recluse moments of isolation, and what often feels like total obscurity and insignificance when we are growing the most… when God is at work in us, crucifying our flesh.

As far as I’m concerned, all of my own dreams, goals, and ambitions are of my own fleshly desire. If they drive me to achieve, they will eventually drive me to sacrifice biblical principles in order to reach whatever means necessary to achieve. If I have to push people out of the way to make them happen, I am living by the flesh and relying on self to achieve a self-gratifying goal. I’d rather walk away and trust God to do what He wants to do with whomever He wills. If we truly want God’s will, and are interested in seeing His Kingdom advanced, we will step aside if that is necessary. When you can walk away from the lime-light and lay it all down while others are being elevated, you are on your way to becoming a well seasoned minister.

If you are a Christian and God intends to use you for His purposes, get ready for some long seasons of drought and insignificance. He can’t use you until He first kills you, and I mean everything in you that is rooted in the flesh.

Are you popular, surrounded by friends, the life of the partyy??? Get ready for long seasons of isolation. He will find a way to get you alone… because in those moments of isolation and obscurity, you will come face to face with who you are and who He is, and just how much you need Him. Don’t expect that to last a week or a year… don’t expect a time frame at all… it can only end when He decides.

I find this particularly hard because by nature I am addicted to excitement and I am driven to achieve things! I hate to sit still. I want to be with where the action is, all the time doing something extraordinarily incredible! If I am awake, I have to be doing something, meeting someone, going somewhere, or at least planning to go somewhere. I have S.H.A.D.D. (Super Hyper Attention Deficit Disorder). I can’t stand being still. But He found a way to stop me and tie me down for a while. He found a way to get me alone.

When seasons change, no one can stop it just because they don’t like it. However long it takes to adapt to the climate of this changing season, is how long it will remain. I have experienced seasons of great victory and great spiritual triumph. At times I felt so empowered and capeable of taking on the hoards of hell, I could look satan in the eye and stare him down. Then there are those times of absolute despair and discouragement… when it’s all I can do to avoid being knocked over by a flea. Seasons of total spiritual drought and lack of desire! There are times I wonder what in the world happened! Where did the desire and passion go? Is this apathy, is it complacency or is it just a season of harsh weather designed to crucify the flesh and destroy all of my human ambition? James makes sense of it all…

James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James 1:12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

Rev Chris Curry
www.LivingWatersCanada.com