If you haven’t already, I encourage you to lay aside everything you thought you knew about ministry. I’m not saying get rid of the Bible and its ways, I’m saying get rid of what YOU thought you knew about the way the Lord chooses to do things. It really is time for the new wine and wineskins.
“Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom? It’s way over our heads. We’ll never figure it out. Is there anyone around who can explain God? Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do? Anyone who has done him such a huge favor that God has to ask his advice? Everything comes from him; Everything happens through him; Everything ends up in him. Always glory! Always praise! Yes. Yes. Yes.” – Romans 11:33-36 MSG
Who can know the ways of the Lord? It’s funny, we humans think we know so much but the more time you spend with the Lord and study His word, you’ll realize how much we really don’t know. We have been so prideful to create a ministry box that the Lord is supposed to fit in. We are continuing to do the same checklists every single week at our church services and wonder why nothing is truly changing in peoples lives. We don’t want to obey the small, behind the scenes things the Lord is asking of us and we surely don’t want to go back to letting go of the platform to pour into our most important ministry- our family.
Pleasing the Lord is sooooo much more than getting someone to repeat a prayer. This world is seeking the things of the Lord. Why do you think there are so many doing “spiritual” things that are not of God? It’s because we have forsaken His presence and ways in our church and people want the real thing. The man-made Gospel isn’t going to make it anymore. The people want the Lord’s presence and the true change that comes from encountering Him.
We don’t tell the truth that living for the Lord is not the easy route. We all smile and act like everything is fine but inside we are suffering and for some, even perishing. We put on our Sunday best, all the while we are struggling with mountains of warfare and pain. We say we forgive others but we post about them subliminally on social media. We forget to check the plank in our own eye before pointing out our brother’s speck.
But what I really felt lead to share about today is to encourage us to get rid of everything we thought we knew about Christianity and church-as-usual services. The Lord is about to obliterate the ministry machine and man-made traditions. He is going to use those who don’t have a man made agenda, who are willing to truly make room for HIM, and who are humble and meek in spirit. Blessed are the meek, for they shall see the Kingdom of God.
This is the season of being meek to the Spirit’s ways, but violent in the enemy’s camp. We are entering a season many of us have never known before. We will quickly see who is truly submitting to the Lord vs. those who have made ministry their career.
The Lord is asking us to cast off everything we thought we knew about Him and let Him have full control in our lives. To truly surrender our comforts and traditions to see the captives set free and the greatest outpouring this world has possibly ever known. But this takes humility and surrender to the Lord. It takes admitting when we have messed it all up and want to get it right. It’s saying not my will but yours be done Lord. It’s shutting our mouth when the Lord says, “Don’t go there, let me defend you.” It’s stopping the entire service just to let the Lord have His way and truly repenting for grieving the Spirit.
This next season won’t look like anything we have ever known, and it surely won’t be easy but it is necessary for the cleansing of our country and the church. The Word says the Lord is coming back for a spotless bride. Compromise, pride, and the ministry machine makes us dirty. It’s time to get cleaned up and let the Lord bust up all we thought we knew so that He can truly have His way and show Himself strong on our behalf. It’s time to let Him- it’s time to let go and let God. His ways are worth the cost. Let the Lord jackhammer all the things you built up in your mind and ways that are not of Him- it’s going to be a matter of life and death and the time is now.
Hannah Smith, author of the Moving Mountains blog, is a woman who feels she has experienced a lot of life in her 33 years.
At 19 years old, Hannah joined the Army. After moving around the country, getting a divorce and losing what seemed like everything, she landed back where God wanted her in Ohio, even though she fought the whole way. She is now a devoted follower of Christ and seeks the Lord with all she’s got.
Hannah is married and a RN, but works as a stay-at-home mom to her 3 children per instruction from the Lord.
She loves to hike, travel, drink coffee, and talk about Jesus. Hannah also has a heart to create a home and life in which she can be a safe place for the hurting and the broken. Her biggest piece of advice would be to never tell the Lord you will never do something- because He will most likely then ask you to do that very thing, LOL!
To her readers, Hannah says, “I believe that God set every single one of you reading this apart, for such a time as this. It is my hope and prayer that God would use the words I say to change your life in a way you and I never thought possible!”
by leaps and bounds 
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