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Seasons in Ministry
Genesis 8:22 says, As long as the earth remains, there will be springtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night. (NLT)
To be truly successful in ministry, it is important to respect and respond to God’s ministry seasons. In ministry, there are many seasons. A short list could include:
- A time to plant.
- A time to harvest.
- A time to grieve.
- A time to heal.
- A time to run.
- A time to rest.
- A time to receive.
- A time to give.
- A time to be born.
- A time to die.
To begin our discussion, don’t limit your answer to the list above, but let’s answer the question, “What season are you in?”
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Waiting…
Its a hard thing for me to do, but I trust God’s plan…
Hopefully we will soon leave behind the time to grieve and enter the time to heal.
About 6 weeks ago I was asked by my church board to resign because I wasn’t a good fit for the church. This was a crushing blow to my family and a I, and we had no idea what would happen next (where to go, if I’d find a job). Thankfully, God had a door already opened for me to go back to my “first love” in ministry - being a youth pastor again. Not only being a youth pastor again, but back at the same church we left 8 years ago (one of my top 10 biggest mistakes!). The pastor and staff are all the same, and we know several families in the church. It is a perfect “fit” for us, and we cannot wait for the healing to begin.
i am in a “time to harvest”
A time of parental pain. We have 5 adopted kids. Our oldest self-destructed and just received almost 50 years in prison (He is 21). Our teenage daughter just told us that she isnt sure she wants us to be her parents anymore. Our youngest is autistic and it brings with it much stress.
A time to plant but also a time to die to myself on a daily basis and yes a time to run hard for God
A time to push…we can’t back off on the mission to make disciples regardless of the cost.
Art, I’m sorry to hear about your ministry loss. So glad God has opened a door for you that you are excited about!
Chuck, Man, I am hurting with you. Thanks for your willingness to share your painful burdens. I am praying for you and your family this morning.
A Season of Uncertainty.
Should I stay in ministry? Should I simply be ‘Jesus in the mainstream’? Should I try harder? Should I wipe the dust off my feet? Is it God’s timing or fear that is keeping me from taking my next step?
I am in a season of being broken.
I have been trying to do ministry on my own. I have been wanting God to follow my ideas instead of getting my ideas from Him.
He has been showing me that nothing I do can do anything without Him. That sounds simple enough but it’s so easy to lose focus on God because you are so busy with “church”. I have been seeking him more and everything is coming easier.
God is breaking me of what I think I am and showing me who I am in Him.
time to renew. we’ve had a season of creating a better rhythm as a church plant that tried dot do too much with the resources we had in a city that is antagonistic towards church; we’re in a revisioning process with a great group of leaders and passionate core people and building steam to be more aggressive in mission again.
I think I am in a season of rest/waiting. I’ve been going three years without stopping. We just had our fourth child and my wife said no to me going on a mission trip to New Orleans and now also said no to a mission trip to India during the summer. I need to rest.
I also need to wait instead of doing what I want to do and hear what God wants to do.
A season of re-tooling on the Potter’s Wheel.
definitely a season of transition. i can’t seem to get comfortable, and i know something big is around the corner. everything’s in an upheaval, but for some reason i’m excited about it.
A time to persevere.
We’re sort of in “the dip” right now. Great things have been happening, but now we definitely feel like we’re under the attack of the enemy. Now is the time to refocus & persevere in the face of adversity. By the way Craig, I listned to your series on Habakkuk last week, & it was a good encouragement. Thanks
I am in a season of receiving. Planting a church has some incredibly exciting and joyous times. As a matter of fact, I love it. However, one interesting thing that has come up unexpectedly is the whole idea of receiving. When you are planting a church, you are constantly receiving because God is giving you finances and people. People give sacrificially, strangers suddenly feel led by God to give to you, someone offers to buy something for the church, etc. All of this is wonderful and I am very thankful but my wife and I were discussing how WE want to be the givers. I want to get to the point where we are giving much more than we are receiving. We are giving what we can now, but I will be so happy when we get to the point that we can look at a new church plant and tell them, “What do you need? We will buy it.” Receiving is wonderful, but giving is better.
God woke me up at 4:48 AM this morning. Couldn’t go back to sleep. Ministry to 20-somethings at times is extremely difficult. When you lose your core folks to marriage, moving, etc. you wonder if it was something you did or didn’t do. Where did I fail to make the Word and committment “Essential”? However, God has spoken a couple things into my heart. One, minister right were you are and then two, in Psalms this morning, “Unless the Lord build the house, the laborers labor in vain that build it.” I needed to read that. So taking a lesson from Andy Stanley, I’m going to leave the room and come back in to change whatever needs to be changed.
It feels like I’m coming to a time of break through. The realization of some things I’ve been praying for and pursuing for a really long time. But it will still require me to attack. And fighting for what God has promised can be hard.
2 Samuel 5:19-20 CEV David asked the LORD, “Should I attack the Philistines? Will you let me win?” The LORD told David, “Attack! I will let you win.” David attacked the Philistines and defeated them. Then he said, “I watched the LORD break through my enemies like a mighty flood.” So he named the place “The Lord Broke Through.”
I’m in the Peace Out season. Yesterday was my last day at the church I had served at for almost 3 years. I’m ready to start anew and fresh. God has shown me alot about the good and bad of ministry in the past few years. I’m ready to start over with new slate and a backpack full of experiences.
Seeking, I fell like I am treading water, doing many different things but doing few things with excellence. Our ministry is in a season of looking to add a new minister and I am praying about my role I love pastoring but have a draw into Youth and College. I am personally remodeling my house with a 22 month old and a 9 month pregnant wife so this just kinda adds to the business. Don’t get me wrong this is a tough season for me but I would not trade it for anything because last week I buried a friend of mine and to know that he knew Jesus was EVERYTHING and I want to continue to share that “Good News”. God is Good…
A season of change…Our family is embracing a new job which is GREAT news but NEW and UNKNOWN!!! I have recently found out that “BIG change” is somewhat hard for me hmmm ( SOOO STRANGE…never really was before; moved 22 times)… for some reason it has been gearing up my adrenaline and my mind is running on full speed (where is the switch?)…I have had some trouble sleeping…have to get everything done ( and of course I can’t) yadda..yadda..yadda…..
I honestly believe that I have had so much change in my life and then a wonderful season of rest…Change is just a shock to the system right now! I know things will calm down here soon
Just one of those things! Fighting fear with faith one minute at a time…..and it really IS a fight at times.
A time to plant.
A time to lead.
We are in the process of planting a college ministry. I came in with the mindset of “it will be simple, play Craig’s messages and lives will be changed”, but it didn’t take me long to realize every group needs strong leadership. I am pushing myself to grow as a leader and equipping the people around me to be the church. God is working in me and in our group. I see them falling in love with Him. I am so excited. The harvest is coming!!
Personally I am in a season of learning. Our church is in a season of discipleship. Probably very closely related to one another as I see God moving.
to receive…just not sure what so waiting…
A time to re-think, re-vamp and build!!
Time to heal and grow
To be honest, I’m not really sure. It is a time that things feel blah. I’m just not sure whether it is a time to plant, let the roots go deeper, or whether it is a time to grieve then heal and then plant. I definitely feel as though it is a time to evaluate everything and throw out what doesn’t belong.
Momentum is a funny thing. You can have it one minute and then the next minute wonder where you left it.
I’m in a time of warfare… intense warfare.
Time to run…. Easter is three weeks away, this is OUR time as Christ Followers, to display the most awesome Story of God’s love for mankind.
Love it, Live it, share it.
A time to be born…this weekend was our first service as new congregation. Our head church asked us to open a new service with all youth that wanted to attend.
Its been painful, leaving “home”, walking into the unknown, but held by the Almighty.
Blessings from El Salvador
I think I’m in “a time to die” or as I have described it in my journal, “coming to the end of myself”…
There’s a lot of life that God needs to start in and through me (including another campus in Detroit), this can’t happen without death. “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” John 12:24.
Dying to Live.
Thanks.
A season on planting.
We’re in a season of running right now. We’re seeing some exciting growth, but because of that we’re feeling a little “out of control”. We’ve got to invest in some discipleship along the way!
Chuck, I am so sorry. I just prayed for you too and will the rest of the day and onward
A time of “God what ARE You doing to me?” I left a ministry position 3 years ago because I couldnt support my family on that salary. Now I work a job that pays well but brings me no joy. My job is secure but things are winding down due to the GFC… I’ve stepped out of a volunteer ministry position at church becasue I dont agree with their lack of vision and planning approach to leadership… I feel left out to dry, that i dont fit anywhere and i cant see the way ahead… Faith is all i seem to have left
planting… can feel futile if you don’t keep the ‘harvest’ season in mind.
I’m in a time of grieving. I’ve just stepped down from a role that i love in order to preserve relationships because i have a diametrically opposed philosophy of ministry and I guess ultimately a deep dissatisfaction with the way my leadership have chosen to do church (and yes I’ve chosen those words purposefully). I am trying hard not to be bitter. But I have been a part of the team for 20 years and led it in partnership with a gread co-director for the last 3.5 years, and I am finding it really really hard. But I know there’s purpose there…just with i could see where God was taking me with it all. I guess it will be a time of healing and rest once i finish grieving, but I am the kind of person that doesn’t like to sit still and not be serving and doing stuff…and yet I hear God telling me to BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD. This will be a time of learning. But for right now…I’m hanging out to get out of the painful bit LOL
A time to let the crock pot do it’s thing at our little church plant. We run hard, push hard, vision cast, dream, serve, love, learn, grow… hard and continually but in the midst of that I sense a need for some time to simmer. Time to allow some of our ideas and philosophies to simmer in the minds and hearts of our people… including mine. Time to study who God has gathered and who he is calling us to be as we are on mission.
early spring, coming out of a really bad winter. Hopefully the freeze helped rid us of some of the bad stuff. Being raised on a farm i am very aware of the rhythm of life, we need to learn to roll with it.
A time of searching and waiting. It’s a very interesting place to be in when you have no idea what God is doing or how He is doing it!
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Thanks to all that shared…I’m humbled by everyones transparency! A season of renewl. Just coming off two of the hardest years of my life as we are now a four year old church plant. I was physically sick for a year and then the following year I had a staff person betray me. In the midst of all this God has been so faithful. I buried a 31yr old friend of mine two weeks ago - who came to know Christ through our church. I was complaining to God about being “knee-deep” in the mess of ministry and then God convicted me…I’m so privileged to partner with Him in impacting eternity and changing the world - One Life at a time. Thanks to all the rest of the team, as we together try to empty hell and bring up there down here.
Its been a long process of grieving, healing, resting and receiving - and now waiting. Waiting for the next step…
Run, run, run…God has put me in the season to run. Run after Him, run after His people, run after those that need Him and run with the dream he plant in my heart a couple years ago.
I’m in a season of sprinting. Focusing on 1 goal and pursuing it as much as possible. It’s fun but not sure how long I can keep this pace up
A time to surrender.
A time to run. Taking a ministry and running headstrong…college baby.
definitely a time of restructuring and replanting after a rough previous winter.
A time to hold on.
A time to let go.
Thanks Craig for your “Seasons of Ministry” It truly is a word in due season.
My wife and I are in the season of personal preperation. I am a mid 30’s school teacher in Canada and am really feeling the prescence of God urging me to enter the ministry. God is teaching us some personal lessons and I believe preparing us to minister in a deeper way.
Thanks for the good lessons on this site
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[...] does the winter thing come into it? God has been speaking into my life through the guys at Swerve …they posted a series of articles a little while ago about the seasons of ministry. I am in [...]
A time to rest and review,a time of uncertainty in life but of certainty in Christ, a time to grow, a time to trust, a time to prepare to be led in fulfulling the plans God has for my life in Him.