Abridged article which appeared in Joy Magazine, originally delivered by David Shearman as an address to graduates of Assemblies of God Bible College.

This is a day of answered prayers and fulfilled dreams. Here we see the fruit of years of hard work and sacrifice. On a day like today, when some are leaving the relative security of a college environment for the world of ministry, there will be mixed emotions, with the pride and joy of what has been achieved tempered by nervousness and questions about what lies ahead. But I say this to you all:

“Make no small plans — they do not move the hearts of men”. There is a need to dream big dreams today in order that the work God has given us to do may be accomplished in our generation.

Let us look at three phrases found in the Old Testament history of the children of Israel.

The first is ‘Setting Out’. In Numbers 10:13, it says that the children of Israel “set out this first time, at the Lord’s command through Moses”. Today many of you are setting out on a new journey into life and ministry, to the Promised Land of success, doing the will of God. On the way there will be enemies to conquer and strongholds to destroy. But before you go, look at the foundation on which your journey is built.

In Numbers 9:4, Moses tells the children of Israel to keep the Passover — to remember the time when they came out of Egypt. So let’s first remember that if any of us are going to enter our ‘Promised Land’ then it is because of our ‘Passover’ - the cross of Christ.

It is the power of the cross that gives us the foundation for our journey. Do not be moved by a contemporary, postmodern mindset, thinking that the age of preaching is over. Jesus preached — and so did Peter, Paul and the other apostles. The centre of the apostolic message that changed the face of the Roman world was the cross of Christ. Don’t be ashamed of it - preach it for all you’re worth! And remember the resurrection!

Then in Numbers 10:1-10, there are five trumpet calls. There were different calls — for assembling together, for mobilising the camps for the journey, for going to war, and for times of celebration and feasting.

I believe that to be a successful leader, we must recognise these different phases of the Christian life. There are times of battle, but also times when God wants us to celebrate. Some churches are always at battle and forget to celebrate. We need in all circumstances to keep the presence of God with us, which will help us discern our position on the journey to fulfilling the purposes of God. We need to heed God’s trumpet calls, give life every thing — to live fully and die empty!

The second phrase is ‘Breakthrough’. 2 Samuel 5:17-25 tells us how the Philistine army came to attack David once they heard he had been anointed king of Israel. So remember this: all anointed people get attacked. But with every attack David experienced and overcame, he moved to a new level of anointing. We see this when he killed the lion and the bear, in his slaying of Goliath, in his early conflicts with the Philistines as a young leader, and then his final battles to assume kingship of the nation.

Note that the Philistines assembled in the Valley of Rephaim (2 Samuel 5:18) the place of giants. All anointed people have ‘giants’ - areas of weakness where they are vulnerable to attack. So there is a journey of development we have to undertake within our own selves if we are to overcome. Remember this: if you don’t overcome your weaknesses, they will overcome you.

The Bible says that David met and defeated the Philistines at a place called ‘Baal Perazim’
(2 Samuel 5:20) — literally “the place where the Lord breaks through”. He turned the attack of the giants into a breakthrough in God. And that is exactly what God wants for us. We will all experience difficulties on our journey, when we feel under constant pressure, but with the help of God we can turn the place of giants into the place of breakthrough.

None of us know how long we have in ministry. I remember many years ago as a young boy sitting at the dinner table with the missionary Teddy Hodgson and being thrilled at his stories of missionary pioneering in the then Belgian Congo. Only months later came the news that this great missionary had been killed — hacked to death with machetes by the people he went to serve. I had met a martyr.

However long or short our life, however hard or easy, let’s determine that whatever happens we will not give up but will fulfil the task God has given us. We can then walk across the stage of eternity to receive our ‘well done’. It is sad but true that many will not be there because they will have dropped out on the way. They will have failed to break through.

Finally, in Joshua 3 to 5 we learn the principle of ‘Crossing Over’ — of moving out from a position where we have stayed too long. We know that the children of Israel, through their disobedience, were 40 years too late in crossing the Jordan. A whole generation had died in the desert, but by the grace of God the next generation entered the land. The priests carried the ark into the Jordan and led the children of Israel across the river into the Promised Land.

Looking back over years of ministry, there are those of us who know that we could have gone further had we been more obedient. There have been times when we have found ourselves trapped and limited and needing to confess that we have not don as well as we could. And sometimes, to our shame, some have even ‘blown it’ and dishonoured the Lord, just as the children of Israel did. We can, however, cross over after ‘failure’.

Jesus taught that unless we give up everything we cannot be his disciples — it really is all or nothing. We know from the Bible that when they were faced with this challenge, many of his own disciples left him (John 6) - a reflection of what has happened over the years to the Church in our own nation. People have deserted the challenge of discipleship for the comforts of materialism. However long or short our life, however hard or easy, let’s determine that whatever happens we will not give up.

Yet out of our failure, both as a Church and as a nation, it is time for the priests — the leaders — to stand in the water so that the Church may once again go forward. It is up to those God has appointed in leadership to stand in their anointing and lead the Church into a land of fruitfulness.

To do this will require that you live a life of faith. And let me tell you, it doesn’t get any easier! At present, the church I lead in Nottingham is faced with the greatest financial challenge in its history — as we seek to build what will be a landmark for Christianity on the skyline of the city. What an exciting opportunity for faith and the miraculous!

Abraham made a huge journey of faith —he left the comfort of his HOME on the word of God for a nomadic lifestyle. He left the comfort of his HEAD after the mistake called Ishmael. And he even left the comfort of his HEART when he offered up his heart’s desire — Isaac — on the altar of sacrifice. He was looking in faith for a city that he could not see but God had told him about.

The challenge of a life of faith is always with us. There are times in leader ship when you stand on your faith alone, even when nothing appears to be happening. You can do this because your faith in God is established like Abraham’s in three things.

Firstly, you KNOW who God is, “the Lord the God of heaven” (Genesis 24:7). Secondly, you REMEMBER what he has done, “who brought me out of my father’s household” (Genesis 24:7). And thirdly, you BELIEVE what he has said, “who spoke to me and promised me on oath” (Genesis 24:7).

If you know these things and stand on them, then you will be convinced that it is only a matter of time before you receive what God has promised, even when it requires amazing miracles.

Recently, I was travelling home in the car when the Lord impressed on me to stop and walk into a farmer’s field. The crops had been sown and as I looked God said to me, “It is only a matter of time”. Because the farmer had prepared the ground and sowed the seed, it was only a matter of time before the harvest came.

Whatever you are believing for in your life, God is able. Believe his promise, it is only a matter of time.