Some weeks ago, we began looking at The Dynamics of Ministry. And in this piece, we want to take it further again, and we want to consider something that is very crucial. If you have been called into the ministry or you are perceiving a call into the ministry; I am sure you have been thinking about this question, you have been asking question the question yourself. And I trust that the Holy Spirit will provide answers to our questions today.
I want us to read the book of Isaiah chapter 40. And I will read verse five and verse six. See what the Bible says:
The glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”6 The voice said, “Cry out!”
And he said, “What shall I cry?”
You see, for most people, the challenge is not whether they have been called into the ministry or not by God. The challenge is what have they been called to do? If you randomly select a crop of men and women who are believers, who are members of our denominations today; their challenge is not whether they perceive the call of God in their lives or not. That is not their primary challenge! Their challenge actually is: "What would God have them do?" I'm sure you remember that question that Saul of Tarsus asked Jesus on that day when he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus? He said: "Lord, what would you have me do?"
So, for most people, we know that God would have us do something. We believe our lives are meant for something bigger than this. We believe God has not created us to just be among the statistics. We believe that there is something we are expected to inject into the world, there is something, there is a change that we have been created to enforce, to initiate, to facilitate. We know that there is a burden our hearts that must be eased, we know that there is a problem that we must solve. But the question is: "What exactly are expected to do? What are the specifics?" We want the specific details of our ministry and for many people in ministry, we go through it without actually realizing the specific responsibility of God on their lives. But see that place that we just read in Isaiah 40:6: The voice said, “cry out!”
Now, for most people, they have received a particular word from the Lord: “speak up, cry out, build, do this and that.” But the question is: if a man hears the word “cry out” and he does not, would he be as effective as a man who says “Lord, what shall I cry?” There could be different manners and approaches of crying. “Lord, what shall I cry? What should I Cry over? There are many ills in the society, there are many things that are not right. What should I raise my voice against? What should I stand for or stand against in my generation?” Many people come to this point randomly. But the effective ministers of God are men and women who are able to ask the right question from the Holy Spirit. “Lord, I know I have been called into the ministry, what have I been called for? To what purpose have you called me? To what end have you called me? What is the specific solution you want my life to provide?”
It is not enough for us to have a great burden in our hearts; “I just feel burdened for God”, that is so wide. You need to get narrowed over this matter. You need to come to a point in your life that you are able to say: Lord, what have you created me specifically to do? What have you taken me through university or through my education processes to become or to do? And when you are able to discover this, you become more effective in ministry. You can’t become “jack of all trades master of none.” You have to be specific; you have to focus and you have to know what you have been created for and to do. It is one thing to cry, it is another thing to cry effectively. It is another thing for your cry to yield effective results.
See what God said to him in verse 6:
6 The voice said, “Cry out!”
And he said, “What shall I cry?”“All flesh is grass,
And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.The grass withers, the flower fades,
Because the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.”
Now, if you read the subsequent statement that followed the question: "What Shall I cry?"; then you would understand that the Lord did not leave the man of God in confusion or in ignorance of the specific message of his ministry. Usually at different points in time in the ministry, the Lord could give us specific messages to our generation. However, the Lord could also make our entire journies, our entire lives to be specifically just to communicate a message’ “all flesh is grass.” What is the specific message of a ministry? It is important you come to this point. You cannot speak over every matter. You can’t be the same one speaking from Genesis to Revelation, on all subjects and you try to hit different subjects, different things at different times.
You are the one that they call for this and that, that is not what the Lord has ordained for you in ministry. There is a specific message that God has ordained you to speak, to communicate, to share with your generation. And knowing it makes you more effective, makes you more focused, and makes you to be able to achieve the purpose of God for your life. You wouldn’t want to go about life wasting your time thinking you are busy. Your life must speak about something. Now, you know that place in the book of 1 Corinthians 14 from verse 6 where apostle Paul was speaking to the Corinthians. See what the Bible says:
“But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you unless I speak to you either by revelation, by knowledge, by prophesying, or by teaching? 7 Even things without life, whether flute or harp, when they make a sound, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is piped or played?”
“Except they make a distinction in the sounds…” that is what you must come to as a minister of the gospel. It is not enough to make sounds in ministry, you must make a distinct sound. You must know what to cry about. Every time you cry, let people know what you are crying about. Let people know that you cry for these matters. This is your burden and this is the cry of your heart. And I believe as we become narrower, so to say, in ministry, the Lord will make us to be more effective, we will do greater works under God on the earth in the name of Jesus. So much can be done by God through us, but we cannot continue to be Jacks of all trades, master of none.
I pray that as we abide with God and as we make a distinct sound in ministry, as we know the things we should cry over and the things we should keep quiet about, the Lord will be glorified in our works, the Lord be glorified in our assignment, and the Lord will be glorified in our callings, and we will be effective ministers of the good news in the name of Jesus.
Thank you very much for the gift of your time, you have been listening to form some patterns. And this is a continuation of the series: The Dynamics of Ministry. It's important you know what to cry about in ministry, so that you will not just be seen as a joker and I trust God that as you do the will of God in the specific manner that God has called you to do it, God will be glorified in your life and God will be pleased with your life, your ministry, your marriage in Jesus’ name. Stay distinct as a sound under God in the ministry that God has called you into.
God bless you.
