Be directed, led, and blessed. What you ‘thought’ would destroy you, was allowed to make you stronger! Remember this – Every individual sent to do God’s work goes through phases.
Being sent to do God’s work typically involves a transformative journey designed to align a person’s character with their calling. Key phases often include receiving a vision (Dream), deciding to take action (Decision), experiencing waiting periods (Delays/Difficulties), facing impossible scenarios (Dead Ends), and witnessing God’s intervention (Deliverance).
Key Phases in Doing God’s Work
Based on principles of spiritual maturity and the phases of faith, the process often includes:
1. The Call/Dream: A clear sense of purpose or a vision for what God wants to achieve, often sparking passion and a desire to serve.
2. Decision/Commitment: A proactive decision to act on this calling, stepping out of comfort zones and taking risks.
3. Preparation/Refining (Delays): A crucial waiting period where God often works on the person’s character, patience, and trust before allowing the work to proceed.
4. Difficulties/Obstacles: Facing challenges that require reliance on God rather than self-dependence.
5. Dead Ends: Situations that become impossible, forcing a total reliance on God, often when the task seems doomed to fail.
6. Deliverance/Completion: Witnessing a divine intervention (a miracle) that accomplishes the task, which could not have been done through human effort alone.
Key Aspects of the Process
Transformation: The primary goal is often to transform the worker to be more like Christ, rather than just completing a task.
Reliance on God: The process moves from self-reliance to total dependence on the Holy Spirit.
Repentance: A pliable heart that embraces repentance allows God to trust the person with deeper levels of service.
Three Essential Stages of God’s Work
Missionary Hudson Taylor described the process of any great work of God as having three, sometimes difficult, stages:
Impossible: The task seems overwhelming.
Difficult: The task is underway but requires perseverance.
Done: The work is accomplished by God.