#2 The Big Deal About Seasons of Silence

When God begins to transform you into the leader He has called you to be, you will go through SEASONS of SILENCE - times when God hides you away to deal with the foundation of your heart. 

What do you do when God is silent and you feel left out?  How do you react during those times? 

I can definitely point to specific times in my life when God seemingly HID me in silence.  Times where I began to question my calling and the vision He had birthed in my heart.

If I've learned anything from those experiences, I've learned NOT TO GIVE UP.

When God anoints you, He calls you to do those things that the ORDINARY person cannot do.  If He calls you...He will qualify you.

It is CARNAL to give up...but it is GODLY to press on! 

Paul tells us in Galatians 6:9 "Be not weary in well doing, for in DUE SEASON you shall reap IF you faint not!"

Peter tells us "...humble yourselves...under the mighty hand of God, that in DUE TIME He may exalt you." (1 Peter 5:6)

Even John the Baptist dealt with SEASONS of SILENCE:

• Luke 1:76-80  ⁷⁶And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; ⁷⁷To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, ⁷⁸Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, ⁷⁹To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. ⁸⁰And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel.

Jesus had SEASONS of SILENCE:

• At His dedication (Luke 2:21-22, 39-40)
• The next time we hear of Jesus, He is 12 years old (Luke 2:41-52)
• The next time we hear of Him, He is 30 and beginning His public ministry.

There will be times when you are HIDDEN away so that the FORMATION of your FOUNDATION can take place.

When God "called" me - I was 15 years old. 

• I didn't immediately run to the State of Ohio and apply for my own 501C3 to establish a not for profit organization or file to incorporate "myself." 
• I didn't hire a marketing firm, manager, agent or road crew. 
• I didn't try to get booked on Daystar or TBN.
• I didn't establish a website with FREE gift offers.
• I wasn't old enough to drive.
• I still had GI JOE action figures.
• I didn't have a clue what I was doing.
• I had just experienced an incredible GOD ENCOUNTER...but didn't know how to interpret it or where to go from there.
• I didn't actually "PREACH" until a year later...and even then I had no clue what to do, where to go, how to develop or how to HONE my ear to God's voice.

IT TOOK TIME!

From the time of your calling to the fulfillment of that call...you will experience SEASONS of SILENCE. 

• I now realize that those were the QUALIFYING years of my life.
• The years where God put people in my life to SHAPE me, CORRECT me and HELP me deal with my JUNK.
• They were trying to get me over the hump of pride, dysfunction and a misaligned mindset.
• Thank God for those people!
• Thank God they still speak in my life.
• Thank God I heeded to their counsel...lest I be a renegade, a loose cannon and one of those classic examples of "what not to do."

Every leader MUST go through SEASONS of SILENCE.  It's during that time...

• Your character will be tested.
• Your motives will be tested.
• Your tenacity will be tested.

Whatever you are...will show up during your SEASON of SILENCE.