"If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire and they are burned." John 15:6
But what of those He did plant? Oh, they will remain and grow. Some are in very unlikely places. Some would seem to have little around them to water or feed them but nonetheless they will grow. For the Lord will sustain them and insure that they prosper. Could He not feed a multitude from a few loaves and fishes? He can cause a work to prosper with seemingly few natural resources.
Is your church in a remote area? Do you seem to have limited talent or sifting among you? Are funds lacking to expand? Or have external forces come against you to impede your growth?
Do not fret over these things for if the Lord has planted the seed, the work will prosper. Natural attributes and environment mean little. Does He not cause beautiful cactus to bloom in the desert and wild flowers on a high rocky hill? If the Lord has planted a thing, it will grow.
And how can one be sure that the Lord has begun a work? That it Ls He who began the effort? For when times get discouraging it is easy to feel that it was a human plan - that perhaps the whole thing was conceived in the heart of man.
And I would say, if you have sought Me you need to trust Me. If you have put your faith in Me, I will lead you. Would the enemy of your soul lead you to start a work to glorify God? Would you come up with ideas on your own to make My name great in the land? No, it is the Lord who leads in such things. If there is difficulty and delay in such efforts, do not assume that a mistake has been made. Do not assume you misunderstood the leading of the Lord.
In these days I have allowed many churches to flounder. I have allowed church splits and financial scarcity. These things are not meant to be signs that the work was not from Me but firings as in a kiln to make you strong and pure.
Did you go to a place by the leading of the Lord? Did you believe in your heart that God wanted to do a work? Then rest in that original confidence. Nothing is off schedule or awry in these days. Nothing has changed since you first heard.
You are simply being prepared for something bigger than you thought. You are being prepared to receive many. You are being strengthened for great work and purged to enable you to be a receptacle for great power.
Don't fret about your original calling. Don't worry about missing what the Lord is saying. He is using many ways to make Himself abundantly clear in these days. If by chance you were wrong or now need a new course, He will make it clear.
It is unlikely that this will come through trial. More often it will be by loss of burden for the people or place where you are serving.
Do you still long to see Me move in the midst of your church? Do you still cry out in the night for Me to move on the people? In your weariness do you desire more of Me there? Do you fear for the sheep who have been scattered? Do you long to do more and bring more in? Of if these things are so, you did not go there by miscalculation or wishful thinking. You were sent there by Me.
Do not let trials or frustrations overtake you. You are waging great warfare as you stand. You are battling through heavenly barriers as you stand firm. Plant your feet deeper, for many are soon to come. Many will soon be brought in to join you in that place.
The questions you are asking yourself are about to change. Soon you will forget your musings about whether you should even be where you are and begin to wonder if you can handle the job. For I say, many who now pastor 50 to 100 will soon be pastoring double and triple that number. Many who now pastor 1,000 will be moving their meetings to stadiums and arenas. Your most pressing questions will not be how to fill existing space or pay your bills but what to do with all the people you have on your hands.
I am simply training you in these days and My training program is unusual indeed. Shouldn't I be gradually adding to your numbers and letting you organize in ever expanding increments? Shouldn't I be providing plenty of money so that you can begin to add staff and have everything in place ahead of time? Oh no, that wouldn't work at all. That would allow you to work through committees and give you time to read instruction manuals written by men. That would allow you time to visit other places and copy what was meant for only them. That type of training would never work at all.
You see, there is only one thing you need to know in these days. You need only know dependency on Me. If I made things easy and proceeded gradually and methodically, dependency would not be fostered. You are being trained for utter dependency on Me. You are being trained to look to Me for your every breath, your every morsel. You are being trained to live by faith.
Practical details are no problem for Me. I can feed a multitude with a few fish and loaves. I can crack open a window in heaven and provide you with more resources and gifting than you need.
What I am looking for in these days is faith. What I am training you for is too vast to be accomplished any other way. If I let you think you could accomplish anything on your own now, you would be crushed by the weight of trying to manage what is ahead. All you need to learn is that you can do nothing apart from Me. All you need to work on is hearing the voice of God. Spend time with Me and you will be properly trained in these days You will learn much from your present circumstances and be prepared for what is ahead.
There is nothing else you need to do. Take heart I have had My hand on you all along and I am leading you in the way you should go.
Some who are prospering now will be uprooted and cast aside, but many who seem to be mere tiny shoots, easily blown and trampled upon, will spring up overnight as sturdy trees to offer shade to many.
If you feel you are in a place that indeed was established or has been long maintained by the plan of man - if you feel you went out of ignorance or pride rather than by the Spirit of God, it is not too late if you change your ways. It is not too late to ask Me to plant seeds that will last. Come to Me and ask Me to set the foundation straight. Come to Me and ask Me to change your course. I will come, and with pruning shears and tender hands, set things straight.
But woe to those who will not come, who will continue on in the strength of men. They will not be able to withstand the winds and crushing blows that are ahead. They will not be able to last in days ahead.
The institutional church without My Spirit or life will surely wither and die for I will uproot all that is not Mine to make room for the expanding of the plantings of God. I will uproot lifeless form and legalism. I will uproot selfishness and pride. For these plants have long taken up space in My garden and I would have it be so no longer. Righteousness, peace, and joy shall prosper and indeed cover the whole earth.
You see, the garden of the Lord was never meant to be planted in neat rows with markers dividing each class. My design is much more creative than that, for I shall have plants mixed and hybrids formed that the world has never yet seen. I shall have colors and textures combined in a dazzling array. I will have the scope be large and the message clear. 'God has planted a garden and no man has ordered the way. No group is preeminent, no glory above His.' I will have My name lifted up and the church a reflection of Me."
Jane Williams
Christian Fellowship Church
Columbia, Missouri