14 Jan New Year, New Me: Battles We’ve Gone Through, Blessings We’re Expecting by Pastor Mark Dolphens
You can’t get a harvest without planting a seed. The seed’s got to die and break the ground to create a harvest. We understand this natural truth in rural America where we are surrounded by fields. But there is a spiritual implication here as well. You see, we all have a field, a place of calling. And in this field, when we as church leaders and ministers go through personal battles, it often leads to corporate blessings or harvest.
Today, I want to take a look at this principle at work in the life of David. He too had a field. He was a shepherd boy, and the rest of his family overlooked his position as if he was nothing more than it.
We have a position. It may be church leader or business owner, but our position isn’t who we are; our position is what we do. Let me tell you a quick story:
Years ago, my son connected with Lee Rousan, a retired Super Bowl champion, and when he was in town one Wednesday, we gave him the evening service for ministry. The church was packed, which was unusual for us at that time. Rousan talked about how he met and asked a young football player in his 20s who he was, and the man said, “I’m the greatest receiver the NFL will ever know. I’m going to hold past every receiving record and touchdown record,” and he went on and on. He said, “My name’s Jerry Rice, but the greatest receiver is who I am.”
I think sometimes, like Mr. Rice, we confuse ourselves with our position. But Whose we are is what really matters. We’re sons and daughters of the Most High God. We’re joint heirs with Jesus Christ.
David matured from shepherd boy to shepherd of Israel when he became king. That tells us that whatever God has for us, wherever field God has us in, whatever direction He’s taking us, whatever label we have—worship pastor, church leader, director, business owner, entrepreneur—God will take it from overlooked to overflowing.
I believe God is looking for overflow in His body. It could be through the anointing of the Holy Spirit. It could be through people. It could be through ministry. But the Holy Spirit is wanting to overflow the church of Jesus Christ in the world today. Why?
Because we need it. We need it badly! We need a fresh fire, a fresh vision. We need churches open-armed to all and unafraid to teach the truth.
David’s first battle was about position. He was overlooked by his father, and his brothers were called to meet the prophet Samuel first. His second battle was about decision-making. Theologians will probably disagree with me, but I think David’s giant was not Goliath; I think it was his family. It was his brother Eliab asking him, “What are you doing here, on the battlefield? Why aren’t you with the sheep?” This forced David to make decisions, ones which led to the defeat of his giants and his promotion in the eyes of the people.
Everybody has a giant. It’s that person or situation that can get into your head if you’re not careful. Often, it’s the people closest to us. A lot of people are crippled because they allow these giants to play in their minds, but a good pastor-friend of mine says that sometimes your heart has to tell your head to shut up. Sometimes we think things that aren’t true and we have to allow the Holy Spirit to bear witness in our hearts on all of our decision-making processes.
Pastors often question, “Do we build a new facility? Do we add on? Do we just add more chairs or more services? What do we do?” It’s good to reason it out. We have to talk about it. But the biggest thing we must do is allow the Lord to speak to our hearts as we make decisions.
I want you to think about this: What does your ministry need to look like in 2025 that it may not have looked like ten years ago? Let God tell you what to do next and look for people to help you do the things God is talking to you about.
When I stepped into ministry, because of my background in competitive sports, I wanted to compete with other mature church leaders. If they were building, I needed to build. If they were holding outreaches, I had to hold outreaches. I justified this mindset with all the right reasons like building the kingdom of God. But this was a wrong and damaging mentality because I was full of pride. 100%! I’m confessing it—it was pride.
Today, I have a new outlook. I want what’s best for our family, for our people, for our church, for our community. And however God chooses to bring that about is fine by me because I just want God’s best for all of us. However He chooses to do that, if He chooses that through another church or minister, if He chooses that through someone in our church that He’s raising up, then so be it. The battle in my mind was with a competitive spirit and my fleshly attempt to not outdo people but rather to use my spirit as a springboard to get what I felt was what God wanted for us rather than searching hard for what God actually wanted for us.
Transformation like this doesn’t come without transparency. When you’re lost, you have to admit, “I’m lost. Give me some direction. Help me find my way to where I’m going.” I can remember back when SCN had its first conference in Victoria back in 2003 or 2004 and Pastor Jim Graff talked about three S’s: survival, success, and significance. Those three categories marry well with David’s three anointings.
David had a prophetic anointing, which is sometimes just survival in our decision-making process. Then there was his positional anointing by his elders, which is success. And finally, his significance as one who steered the course of the nation.
When people recognize you as a leader in your community, you move into your significance anointing and are able to leave a legacy for those who will follow.
Influence and significance depend on our submission to the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Now, everyone has influence. It can be good or bad, but when we submit to the Lord, our submission can last much longer than we will.
Our submission may translate into legacy, inheritance, buildings, ministry structure, or a myriad of other things, but if we’re not careful, we can become manipulative. Where’s the battle here? The battle of submission takes place when we look at our battles versus our blessings. Our cross isn’t always suffering. Jesus saw His cross as “the joy set before Him,” and we can too. Sometimes carrying our cross can and should be joyful. It is then that He gives us influence in our lives to do all He’s called us to do in our families, churches and communities.
Throughout our lives, we have been influenced, and now we should become the influencers. We can only do this through humility. Especially when influencing the younger generations, they’ll fact check you quickly. They want to know exactly what we’re up against or what we’re about. We need to influence with the Word of God in a truthful, humble and trustworthy way.
One last thing, I think the whole idea of position, decision and submission is seasonal in our lives. The faster we learn that we’re just vehicles or vessels of honor used for God’s kingdom and glory, the sooner we can walk in true humility and love for our brothers and neighbors. The next time we approach a new season, let’s handle it a little bit better. Let’s remember that the position is not about us. It’s for us. The decisions we make aren’t about us. They’re for the kingdom. And the submission that we make is simply laying ourselves down. Jesus was the greatest model of this, and we will become more like Him as we pick up our crosses and follow Him joyfully.
This blog was created using content from the webinar New Year. New Me. Battles We’ve Gone Through Blessing We’re Expecting