Floodgates of Heaven Devotions: How to know when it's time to move on in ministry.

Today’s Reading: Job 25-27, Acts 12

Today’s Reflection: Acts 12:25 And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with them John, whose surname was Mark.

So when is the right time to pull up and leave a place of ministry to which you have been called? May I suggest that each ministry assignment given by our Lord has a shelf life and an expiration date. That is, there will be a specific time in which your ministry task must be fulfilled.

For some, it is a long assignment; yet for others, it may be very short. Regardless, see to it that your ministry is fulfilled before you “return from Jerusalem” so to speak. It is one thing to pull out of a ministry assignment due to the fact that you were never sent there by God to start with, but when you KNOW you are where God led you to serve, and you KNOW that your ministry is not yet “fulfilled”, then you should also KNOW that it is not time to leave yet, regardless of how challenging the assignment may be.

So, what does it mean for your ministry to be “fulfilled”? Well, Webster defines “fulfilled” as this: “accomplished, performed, completed, or executed.” But to go even deeper, by looking at the Greek dictionary, we learn that this word further means “to fill to the top: so that nothing shall be wanting to full measure, fill to the brim.”

In other words, what we learn here is that to fulfill one’s ministry is to leave no stones unturned, and to do absolutely everything within your scope of ministry to which God called and equipped you to perform.

Now, that is NOT to say that as long as there is work to be done, that you should not leave. What it IS saying, is that as long as there is work that YOU have been assigned to by God, then you should not leave. Don’t confuse ALL ministry need as YOUR personal assignment.

Seek The Lord, assess the situation, find out what your unique gifts and callings equip you to accomplish, fulfill YOUR ministry, and once you’ve done all God has equipped YOU to do, regardless of whether or not there is yet more to be done, then don’t overstay your welcome. God has other people!

And if you seek The Lord, He will make it very clear to you specifically what He has sent YOU to accomplish, and once you have done THAT thing, then it is time to move on and seek God for His next assignment for your ministry.

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Floodgates of Heaven
Volume 2
Entry 184 of 365

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