GOING THROUGH A DRY SEASON IN YOUR MINISTRY?

Are you in a rut? Does it seem like God has put your ministry on the shelf? Are you facing a dry season in your ministry? You have set goals, devised a strategic plan and implemented initiatives to reach milestones, yet it all seems to be moving along at a snail-like pace or not at all. Has finding the traction to move forward been difficult for you recently? Does any of this describe where you are right now, or does every word of it describe your situation precisely?

Well, welcome to the Dry Season Fraternity! You are a part of a company of notorious nincompoops, who sometimes labor in obscurity but never in vain. Every serious preacher I know will at some point join this exclusive fraternity. Having preached the Gospel for over twenty years now, I have experienced a few dry seasons myself. Here are a few things I have learned over the years that have helped me persevere:

1. God places His emphasis on the worker and not the work. We are His workmanship, not our ministry.


2. Many times our disappointment is His appointment.


3. Genuine faith never functions in a vacuum. It can only function in a hostile environment.


4. Applying simple truth sustains us during difficult times. His remedy for bringing us out is never complex.


5. A quote from General George S. Patton, "The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war."

The reassuring part about going through a dry season is that we go through it. Our sovereign God provides the faith to sustain us, the season to mold us and the strength to help us bear fruit despite our circumstances. So embrace, not shun every dry season in your life and ministry. Hear the words of Paul, "For I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me." (Phil. 4:11-13, ESV)

PREACHER, BEWARE OF THE THREE G'S

Why do some preachers fall? I don't mean failing to please the Lord in some area of our relationship with Him. Generally speaking, we all stumble and miss the mark as we try to live according to the truth we have embraced. Sometimes, we may even fail in the areas of our strongest convictions. However, I am referring to devastating moral failures that leave a trail of ruin and wreckage. The kind of failures that wreak havoc in the preacher's life, his family and in the lives of those to whom he ministers. There are three danger areas for preachers. I'll refer to them as the three G's - the Girls, the Gold and the Glory.

Simply put, the preacher must maintain appropriate relations with the opposite sex, avoid the temptations of money and materialism and no matter how God uses him; he must not glory in himself but rather give glory to God. Just a brief perusing through Scripture reveals that a careless approach to the three G's has caused more men of God to fall than anything. We can mention Jacob, Samson, David and Solomon as examples.

First Timothy, chapter three, lists fourteen qualifications for the church elder or leader. Of the fourteen, only one has to do with gifting or skill (able to teach). The rest deals with private character and public integrity. Character and integrity are the most important assets of the preacher. He must guard them with all his might, trusting in the Lord. Carelessness toward the three G's can ruin the character of any man of God. None of us are immune.

Preacher, beware of the three G's.

EATING ACORNS AND SHARING THE GOSPEL

Would you eat this? Yes, it's an acorn. Again, would you eat it? "I would if I were starving," you might say. If you were a guest at some one's home and they were eating acorns and were kind enough to offer one to you, would you eat it? "Probably not," might be your answer.

One day a friend of mine went street witnessing with a church group at a local housing project. He came across a group of kids playing outside. As he approached them, he noticed one small kid was eating acorns. As he proceeded to share the Gospel with them, the kid, very innocently, offered him an acorn. Without thinking, my friend took the acorn and ... Gulp. The taste? It was awful. Yet, he did not gag, frown or spit. Most importantly, he kept sharing the Gospel.

As my friend shared his experience with me, I thought to myself, "What a small price to pay in order to share the Gospel." You see, what my friend and I knew intuitively, is that we are not only called to verbally share the Gospel, but to also identify when needed with those to whom we share it. Paul, in his second letter to the Corinthians, chapter 9, verses 21-23 stated, "To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings." (ESV)

So, eating an acorn is not all that terrible in light of the eternal consequences. Go ahead, take the plunge. You just might acquire the taste.