Welcome back again to Pamoja Ministry. Let's
dive in together in this exciting and continuing
conversation on Forged for a Purpose. We have
been walking through a revelation that has become
clear with every conversation. God does not waste
the fire. The fire reveals. The fire exposes.
The fire disciplines. The fire teaches us to
govern our words. And in our last conversation,
we discovered how a small tolerated seed can
gradually weaken our resistance. But now we need
to ask a difficult question. Why does God take
character so seriously? Why does He confront
things that seem small? Why does He expose attitudes,
appetites, relationships, reactions, pride, anger,
and hidden compromises? Why not simply give us
the vision release the anointing, open the door,
and allow us to fulfill the assignment. Because
there is something we must understand. It is
possible for your gift to take you somewhere.
Your character is not prepared to sustain you.
And sometimes the greatest danger is not that
you will never reach the place God showed you.
The greatest danger may be reaching it before
the person carrying the vision has been prepared.
for what comes with it. That is why God refines.
We need to correct something that can become
dangerous in Christian thinking. Being anointed
does not mean being incapable of failure. The
anointing does not remove human weakness. Being
called does not eliminate weakness. Being gifted
does not eliminate temptation. Having revelation
does not eliminate appetite. Experiencing God's
power does not automatically produce character.
Scripture gives us too many examples to believe
otherwise. Samson was anointed. Saul was anointed.
David was anointed. Peter was called. Moses encountered
God. Yet every one of them had areas of character
that required the government of God. This is
important because sometimes we confuse what God
does through someone with what God is still trying
to do within someone. Those are not always at
the same stage. God can use you while he is still
working on you, and that should produce humility.
Samson may be one of Scripture's clearest warnings
about this. Judges tells us that the Spirit of
the Lord came powerfully upon him. His strength
was extraordinary. His calling was real. His
assignment was real. His anointing was real.
But so were his vulnerabilities. Sampson repeatedly
moved toward places where his weaknesses could
be fed. He played with boundaries. He trusted
his strength. He entertained relationships that
compromised his consecration. And something dangerous
kept happening. The gift kept working. Samson
compromised and still had strength. He crossed
boundaries and still defeated enemies. He became
careless and still experienced supernatural ability.
Imagine what that can do to a person. You begin
thinking, I must still be okay. Because the gift
still works. The door still open. People still
applaud. The ministry still grows. The business
still succeeds. The opportunities still come.
You still feel powerful. But hear this carefully.
The continued operation of your gift is not necessarily
God's endorsement of your condition. Sometimes
the gift is functioning while the vessel carrying
it is deteriorating. Listen carefully to this
principle. Do not confuse mercy with approval.
We touched this subject in our last conversation,
but here it becomes even more serious. Sometimes
God gives us time to repent, and we interpret
the absence of immediate consequences as permission.
Nothing happened, so we do it again. The ministry
survived, so we do it again. The marriage survived,
so we do it again. Nobody discovered it. So we
do it again. The opportunity remains, so we assume
God must not be concerned. But mercy is not approval.
Mercy is time. Time to recognize. Time to repent.
Time to establish boundaries. Time to seek help.
Time to return. Time to allow God to refine what
could eventually destroy something much larger.
The dangerous question is not, can I still function?
The question is, am I still becoming the person
God is calling me to become? Then we meet Saul.
Saul was chosen. Saul was anointed. Saul was
positioned as king. But eventually something
inside Saul began competing with what God had
entrusted to him. Insecurity, fear, jealousy,
the need for people's approval. David's success
began threatening Saul. The people sang. Saul
has struck down his thousands, and David his
ten thousands. And Saul could no longer simply
see David as someone helping the kingdom. He
began seeing David as a threat. Why? Because
an unresolved insecurity had entered a place
of authority. And when weakness receives authority,
weakness gains resources. An insecure person
without authority may struggle privately. An
insecure king has soldiers. An angry person may
wound someone with words. An angry leader can
create systems around that anger. A jealous person
may dislike someone. A jealous person with authority
can begin using position to fight the person
they fear. This is why God cares about character
before expansion. Because authority amplifies
what is already inside us Listen to me carefully
Promotion does not heal character Sometimes we
believe the next level will fix what is wrong
with us if I get the promotion I will become
secure if the ministry grows I will become confident
if I get married Temptation will disappear if
I make more money financial irresponsibility
will disappear. If people finally recognize me,
insecurity will disappear. Not necessarily. Sometimes
promotion does not remove weakness. Promotion
gives weakness a larger stage. Money can amplify
poor stewardship. Authority can amplify pride.
Visibility can amplify insecurity. Access can
amplify appetite. Influence can amplify an uncontrolled
tongue. That is why God sometimes works on the
person before increasing what surrounds the person.
We keep praying, God enlarge me, and God may
be answering, let me strengthen what will have
to carry the enlargement. Let's talk about the
weight of purpose. Think about a bridge. Before
engineers allow greater weight to travel across
it, the structure must be capable of carrying
the load. The issue is not whether the destination
is good. The issue is whether the structure can
sustain what is coming across it. Purpose has
weight. Influence has weight. Leadership has
weight. Marriage has weight. Parenthood has weight.
Ministry has weight. Success has weight. Money
has weight. Authority has weight. And sometimes
we ask God for the weight while resisting the
process that develops our capacity. But God loves
us too much to be impressed only by our ambition.
He sees what the assignment will require, so
he works on the structure. David was anointed
by Samuel long before he became king over all
Israel. Think about that. The anointing came,
but the throne did not immediately follow. There
were fields, there was Goliath, there was Saul,
there was rejection. There were caves. There
were battles. There were opportunities to retaliate.
There were moments when David could have killed
Saul and accelerated his own journey toward the
throne. But David refused. Why? Because God wasn't
simply bringing David to a throne. God was developing
the man who would sit on it. The cave was doing
something the crown could not do. The waiting
was doing something immediate promotion could
not do. The injustice was revealing something.
The opportunity to retaliate was developing restraint.
Sometimes the distance between the anointing
and the assignment is called preparation. And
this is where our theology must remain honest.
David was refined. David learned restraint. David
walked with God. and David still failed terribly.
Bathsheba, Uriah, consequences entered his family.
So does that mean the refining process failed?
No. It means refinement does not make us incapable
of failure. We remain dependent upon God. And
perhaps one of the greatest signs of character
is not merely that you never fall. It is what
happens when God confronts you. Nathan came to
David, and David eventually said, I have sinned
against the Lord. No blaming Bathsheba, no blaming
pressure, no blaming the responsibilities of
kingship, no manipulating Nathan. David was confronted
and broken. Psalm 51 gives us the cry of a man
who understood that what needed restoration was
deeper than reputation. created me a clean heart,
O God. David didn't simply need the consequences
removed, he needed the heart addressed. That
is refinement. Listen to this principle. Character
is not perfection. We need this distinction.
Character does not mean perfection. If perfection
were the qualification for purpose, scripture
would contain very few usable people. Character
means that increasingly, your inner life is coming
under the government of God. You can be corrected.
You can repent. You can accept responsibility.
You can establish boundaries. You can tell yourself
no. You can apologize. You can submit your appetite.
You can admit weakness. You can seek accountability.
You can choose obedience over image. A person
of character is not someone who says, I cannot
fall. A person of growing character says, because
I know I can fall, I will remain dependent upon
God. That is a completely different posture.
Peter had to be broken before he could strengthen
others. Peter gives us another extraordinary
picture. Peter was bold. Peter loved Jesus. Peter
was called. But Peter also had confidence in
himself. Jesus warned him that Satan had asked
to sift him like wheat. Peter essentially responded,
I'm ready. Prison? I'll go. Death? I'll go. But
only hours later, Peter denied Jesus three times.
And perhaps something had to die in Peter before
Pentecost. Not his calling, not his personality,
not his boldness, his confidence in his own strength.
After the resurrection, Jesus restored him, and
the Peter who later stood at Pentecost was still
bold. But now he knew something he had not fully
understood before. He needed the Holy Spirit.
That is refinement. God doesn't always remove
your strength. Sometimes he removes your illusion
that your strength is enough. The Holy Spirit
and Discipline This brings us back to something
foundational to this entire season. There are
two things we desperately need. The help of the
Holy Spirit and a life of discipline. We cannot
produce holiness through willpower alone. We
need grace. We need conviction. We need the Holy
Spirit. But grace does not remove responsibility.
The Holy Spirit may expose the weakness. You
must respond. The Holy Spirit may warn you about
the relationship. You must establish the boundary.
The Holy Spirit may convict you about your words.
You must learn restraint. The Holy Spirit may
show you the seed. You must stop watering it.
The Holy Spirit may reveal pride. You must humble
yourself. This is partnership. God transforms.
We surrender. God empowers. We obey. God warns.
We listen. God refines. We remain on the altar.
A question. Remain. What if God is protecting
you from your own success? Now consider this.
We often ask God to protect us from enemies.
But what if one of God's concerns is protecting
us from receiving something before we have the
character to carry it? Because success can destroy
an unprepared person just as surely as adversity
can. What if the delay is mercy? What if the
closed door is mercy? What if the season of obscurity
is mercy? What if God is developing something
privately because he knows what will happen publicly?
Maybe you are asking, God, why haven't you opened
the door? And perhaps God is asking, can your
character survive what is behind that door? Can
your humility survive recognition? Can your marriage
survive greater access? Can your integrity survive
more money? Can your discipline survive greater
freedom? Can your prayer life survive success?
Can your character survive influence? Can your
relationship with God survive applause? Those
are difficult questions, but they are loving
questions. This principle is true. The gift attracts
people. Character determines what they experience.
A gift can attract people. Talent can attract
people. Charisma can attract people. Leadership
can attract people. Anointing can attract people.
But once people arrive, they eventually encounter
your character. They encounter how you treat
people who cannot benefit you. They encounter
how you respond when challenged. They encounter
how you behave when nobody is applauding. They
encounter how you handle disagreement. They encounter
how you handle power. They encounter how you
speak about people when they leave the room.
They encounter whether your private life agrees
with your public message. The gift may introduce
them to you. Character determines what happens
after they arrive. And this is why character
protects vision. Listen carefully. This truth.
God is preparing the vessel. Maybe this changes
how we understand the fire. We thought God was
punishing us. Maybe he was strengthening the
structure. We thought God was delaying us. Maybe
he was developing capacity. We thought God was
restricting us. Maybe he was teaching boundaries.
We thought God was hiding us. Maybe he was developing
character without the distraction of applause.
We thought God was taking things away. Maybe
he was removing weight that could not accompany
the assignment. We thought the fire was standing
between us and purpose. Maybe the fire was preparing
us for purpose. Do not ask only for more anointing.
Maybe our prayer needs to change. Instead of
only, God increase my anointing. We should also
pray, God increase my character. If you increase
my influence, increase my humility. If you increase
my resources, increase my stewardship. If you
increase my authority, increase my compassion.
If you increase my platform, increase my accountability.
If you increase my opportunities, increase my
discipline. If you increase my voice, increase
my wisdom. And if there is something inside me
that cannot survive where you are taking me,
deal with it now. That is a dangerous prayer,
but it is the prayer of someone who understands
purpose. Don't protect what God is trying to
remove. This brings us back to conversation two.
When the fire exposes something, don't immediately
defend it. If God reveals insecurity, let him
heal it. If he reveals pride, let him humble
it. If he reveals an uncontrolled appetite, establish
boundaries. If he reveals anger, deal with it.
If he reveals jealousy, confront it. If he reveals
a dangerous relationship, listen. If he reveals
that your identity has become dependent upon
people's applause, return to him. Because what
God exposes today may be what He refuses to allow
to destroy tomorrow. Exposure can be mercy. This
principle is true. The vessel must be able to
carry the oil. God has purpose for your life,
but purpose carries weight, and therefore God
is not merely interested in what He can do through
you. He cares deeply about what He is doing in
you. Samson teaches us that gifting without discipline
is dangerous. Saul teaches us that authority
cannot heal insecurity. David teaches us that
preparation matters and that even after failure,
humility and repentance matter. Peter teaches
us that confidence in ourselves must eventually
give way to dependence upon the Holy Spirit.
So perhaps the fire you are experiencing is doing
something you cannot yet see. It is strengthening
the vessel. It is developing restraint. It is
exposing weakness. It is deepening humility.
It is teaching dependence. It is developing character.
Because God knows something you may not yet know.
He knows the weight of what He intends to entrust
to you. And perhaps that is why he refuses to
leave you exactly as you are. The goal is not
simply to become more gifted. The goal is not
simply to become more visible. The goal is not
simply to become more successful. The goal is
to become someone whose character can carry the
responsibility attached to the calling. So don't
despise the preparation. Don't despise the correction.
Don't despise the waiting. Don't despise the
boundaries. Don't despise the fire. God is preparing
the vessel for the weight of purpose. And one
day you may realize the delay was not denial.
The correction was not rejection. The fire was
not destruction. It was preparation. God was
refining the person who would have to carry what
he had already placed inside them. You are being
prepared. You are being strengthened. You are
being humbled. You are being disciplined. You
are becoming capable of carrying greater responsibility.
You are being refined for a purpose. This is
Paimoja Ministry. And in our next conversation,
we will move into another dimension of God's
refining process, the people who enter our lives.
Some will encourage you, some will support you,
some will challenge you, some may even wound
you. But when your life is surrendered to God's
purpose, he is able to use relationships and
encounters in ways you may not understand until
much later. Conversation seven, the people God
uses in your process.