Cultivating Your Ministry..

My pastor is a wonderful teacher! He has taught me volumes, that mere words cannot do justice! He's taught us to cultivate and nurture the gifts that God has given us. This is so vital! In fact, the Bible gives us great insight into cultivating a prosperous ministry. God gives us the gifting, but how can we nourish it and cultivate it, and allow it to grow up in us? So much error has occurred, I believe, simply because people are not nourishing and cultivating their giftings (Col 2:19; 3:16; 2 Tim 3:14-17; Eph 4:15-16). So, how can we do so?

2 Kings 4:8-10 "And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither."

This is a natural story that I believe has great spiritual and edifying significance for us: "Now all these things (OT symbolism, types and shadows) happened unto them for ensamples [Greek "types"]: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come " (1 Cor 10:11).

Observe:

This is the story of Elisha and the Shunammite woman. Every time Elisha would pass by her home, she would constrain him to come in. Elisha clearly was a great man of God. We will see certain truths that he continually practiced in becoming so, by the grace of God.

(1) "let us make a little chamber"... this chamber is a type of the secret place of the Most High. Psalm 27:5 says, "For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock." (Also refer to Ps 91:1; 31:20; 61:3; etc). Cultivating your ministry begins with continually abiding in God's presence. How can we serve and speak for Him whom we do not properly know? As is evident throughout history, God's character has been blasphemed, partly because people try to speak for Him without becoming acquainted with His great glories! How sad.

(2) "on the wall"... this speaks of a foundation in God and His Word. This is absolutely vital because God will never minster anything through us that He has not already said in His Word. His Word is to be our perpetual plumbline. The lack of a true foundation in God will always birth shallow ministry: "O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires" (Isa 54:11). The solution to such a state is a Biblical foundation in God and His ways (Heb 6:1-3). This is the means by which we go on unto completion.

(3) "and let us set for him there a bed"... a bed is a place of rest; A bed is also a place of intimacy and reproduction. Reader, any TRUE ministry will always be birthed out of loving attachment to Jesus! "Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him..." (Ps 37:7). The Shulamite in the Song of Solomon possessed this same heart: "Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon" (Song 1:7). Are we daily cultivating greater intimacy with Jesus? If so, then we are cultivating our ministry to the earth as well. Did you know that the nations will eat of the fruit produced in your own life? It's a glorious thing! Jesus said that out of YOUR belly shall flow rivers of living water (Jn 7:38)!

(4) "and a table"... a table is the place where one eats. In our case, we partake of spiritual meat. We need to be nourished up in the Words of faith (1 Tim 4:6). Jesus spoke of this when he said, "I have meat to eat that ye know not of" (Jn 4:32). Like Job, we should "esteem the words of his mouth more than [our] necessary food" (Job 23:12). Do you have this heart for the Word of God? Is it more precious to you than even natural creature comforts? If so, you are cultivating your ministry to a dead and dying world. If this is not your heart, simply ask the Lord Jesus to birth His desires in you (Phil 2:13)! His enabling graces are always present!

(5) "and a stool"... In part, this is a type of the "footstool" of God, that is, the feet of God in the earth (Isa 66:1; Matt 5:35; etc). A true and effective ministry is found humbly at Jesus' feet, as Mary in Luke 10:28-42, because real service is birthed from real "sitting". How many have failed simply because they strove to accomplish things on their own, apart from God's merciful enabling? "Exalt ye the LORD our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy" (Ps 99:5).

(6) "and a candlestick"... In Scripture, this is symbolic of the Holy Ghost. We must learn to live and operate in the power, ability and unction of the Holy Spirit. A true ministry will have this testimony; a true ministry will minister the Spirit (Gal 3:5; Jer 8:22; Rev 3:18)! Paul said, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Rom 8:14). Much confusion and strife has occurred simply because we are easier led by our flesh than by the Spirit within us. Let's decrease (Jn 3:30)! This candlestick also speaks of us allowing the light of God to come in and overpower the hidden darkness in our lives. Our personal vulnerability to the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential to this cultivation process. "For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness" (Ps 18:28).

By these and other truths, Elisha's ministry was cultivated and made prosperous. Thank God for His divine enabling! Notice in 2 Kings 4:18-37 the fruit of such cultivation: Elisha worked miracles and was a display of the glory of God! Let is be so with us too, Lord Jesus!