Latest / PAMOJA PODCAST | PAMOJA MINISTRY, A LIFE OF CHRIST INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES / FORGED FOR YOUR FUTURE ASSIGNMENT | Episode 4 The Hidden Years Before the Mission

Transcript

FORGED FOR YOUR FUTURE ASSIGNMENT | Episode 4 The Hidden Years Before the Mission · PAMOJA PODCAST | PAMOJA MINISTRY, A LIFE OF CHRIST INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES

0:00
Welcome to Pomoja Podcast, the place where stronger
0:03
lives are built, faith is strengthened, hearts
0:07
are encouraged, and Christ -centered homes are
0:10
shaped through ordinary conversations that become
0:13
extraordinary encounters with God's truth. One
0:17
conversation, one story, one revelation at a
0:22
time. I'm your host, Barry Mwamba. Over the past
0:28
three conversations, we have followed one remarkable
0:31
pattern that appears again and again throughout
0:33
scripture. Joseph discovered that the prison
0:36
was never the end of his story. Moses learned
0:40
that the wilderness was never a punishment but
0:43
a preparation. Esther realized that the palace
0:46
had become the place where God had positioned
0:49
her long before she understood why. Daniel proved.
0:54
that Babylon could never redefine a heart that
0:57
had already been surrendered to God. Different
1:00
people, different generations, different circumstances,
1:04
the same God, the same forge, the same preparation.
1:10
Today we arrive at another servant whose story
1:13
raises a question that many believers quietly
1:16
ask, but rarely say aloud. Why does God sometimes
1:21
seem to hide the very people he has called? Why
1:25
would God reveal such an extraordinary assignment
1:28
only to allow years to pass before that assignment
1:32
begins? If God has spoken, why the silence? If
1:37
God has called, why the waiting? If the assignment
1:41
is so important, why does nothing seem to happen?
1:46
No one illustrates that question more powerfully
1:49
than the Apostle Paul. Most of us remember the
1:54
road to Damascus. We remember the bright light,
1:58
the voice of Jesus, the dramatic conversion,
2:02
and the complete transformation of a man who
2:05
had once persecuted the Church. It is one of
2:08
the greatest turning points in the New Testament,
2:11
but what happened after Damascus, that is the
2:15
part of the story we often overlook. Because
2:18
after such an extraordinary encounter with Christ,
2:22
we naturally expect Paul to begin preaching immediately,
2:26
planting churches, writing letters, and changing
2:29
the world. Instead, he disappears, for years,
2:35
almost silently. And I have often wondered why.
2:39
Why would God reveal one of the greatest missionary
2:43
assignments in history? and then allow years
2:46
of hidden preparation before sending Paul to
2:50
the nations. Perhaps because Damascus was never
2:53
the completion of Paul's preparation, it was
2:57
only the beginning. There is something fascinating
3:02
about the way God works throughout scripture.
3:06
We often imagine that once God reveals an assignment,
3:09
everything should begin moving quickly. We assume
3:13
that calling should immediately lead to opportunity,
3:17
that revelation should immediately produce influence,
3:20
and that an encounter with God should immediately
3:23
place us on the platform He has prepared. But
3:27
the Bible repeatedly tells a different story.
3:30
Joseph received the dream before the prison.
3:33
David received the anointing before the throne.
3:37
Moses encountered the burning bush after 40 years
3:41
in Midian. Esther became queen long before Haman
3:45
appeared. Daniel settled his convictions long
3:49
before the lion's den. Now Paul meets Jesus on
3:53
the Damascus road and everything appears ready
3:56
for ministry to begin. Yet instead of sending
3:59
Paul immediately into public leadership, God
4:03
allows him to enter another hidden season. Why?
4:08
Because an encounter with Christ, as life -changing
4:11
as it is, is not the same thing as being prepared
4:15
for the full weight of an assignment. Paul's
4:18
heart had been transformed in a moment. His understanding
4:22
would be shaped over years. He had seen Jesus.
4:28
Now he needed to learn Jesus. He had received
4:31
a calling. Now he had to become the man who could
4:34
faithfully carry it. That distinction is so important.
4:38
God does not simply call people. He forms them.
4:43
He does not merely reveal purpose. He develops
4:46
the person who will fulfill it. I think one of
4:49
the greatest misconceptions among believers is
4:52
the idea that once God speaks, delay means something
4:57
has gone wrong. Yet throughout scripture, hidden
5:01
seasons are rarely signs that God has forgotten
5:04
his servants. More often, they are evidence that
5:08
he is still preparing them. Paul's hidden years
5:12
remind us that visibility is not the measure
5:16
of fruitfulness. Some of God's deepest work takes
5:20
place where almost no one is watching. The world
5:24
celebrates public success. God often celebrates
5:28
private formation. And perhaps that is why so
5:32
many of God's greatest servants spent years in
5:36
places history barely records. Those years were
5:40
not empty pages. They were the workshop where
5:44
heaven was preparing men and women for assignments
5:47
that would one day influence generations. If
5:52
Paul's hidden years teach us that God often prepares
5:56
His servants away from public attention, another
5:59
question naturally follows. What was God doing
6:03
during those years? What changes inside a person
6:07
when heaven seems quiet? What does God build
6:10
in the hidden places that cannot be built in
6:14
the spotlight? That is where our journey continues.
6:19
As we continue Paul's story, I cannot help but
6:23
ask another question that has challenged me personally.
6:26
What exactly was God doing during those hidden
6:29
years? If Paul had already encountered Jesus
6:32
on the road to Damascus, if Ananias had already
6:36
laid hands on him, if God had already declared
6:39
that this man would carry his name before Gentiles,
6:43
kings, and the people of Israel, then why did
6:46
heaven seem so quiet afterward? What was left
6:49
to prepare? After all, Paul already knew the
6:52
scriptures better than most people of his generation.
6:55
He had studied under Gamaliel, one of the most
6:58
respected teachers in Israel. He possessed extraordinary
7:02
intelligence, remarkable discipline, and an unwavering
7:06
passion for what he believed. From a human perspective,
7:10
Paul appeared ready. Yet God's perspective was
7:14
different, because knowledge alone is never enough
7:18
to carry a divine assignment. Character must
7:21
become strong enough to sustain what knowledge
7:24
cannot. I often think about the contrast between
7:28
the man who entered Damascus and the man who
7:32
eventually stood before kings, wrote letters
7:35
that would shape the church for 2 ,000 years,
7:39
and willingly laid down his life for Christ.
7:43
They were the same man, but they were not the
7:46
same person. Something had changed, something
7:50
had been formed, something had been forged. That
7:54
transformation did not happen overnight. It happened
7:57
quietly, patiently, and almost entirely outside
8:02
the public eye. I believe those hidden years
8:06
became Paul's classroom with the Holy Spirit.
8:10
For years he had studied the law through the
8:12
eyes of a Pharisee. Now he had to read the same
8:16
scriptures through the eyes of Christ. Every
8:19
prophecy he had memorized, every sacrifice he
8:23
had taught, every promise made to Abraham, Moses,
8:27
David, and the prophets suddenly carried an entirely
8:30
different meaning because they all pointed to
8:33
Jesus. Can you imagine that journey? Imagine
8:37
opening the scroll of Isaiah again, reading Psalm
8:41
22 again, studying Genesis again, returning to
8:45
the writings of Moses again. only this time,
8:50
seeing Christ everywhere. The man who once believed
8:54
he understood scripture was now discovering that
8:57
he was only beginning to understand it. Perhaps
9:01
that is why God allowed the hidden years, not
9:05
because Paul lacked intelligence, but because
9:08
revelation takes time to reshape a person. God
9:12
was not simply giving Paul new information, He
9:15
was transforming the way Paul saw everything.
9:19
And isn't that exactly how God often works in
9:22
our own lives? Many of us pray for God to use
9:25
us, while God is quietly changing the way we
9:29
think, the way we see people, the way we understand
9:32
His Word, and even the way we understand ourselves.
9:36
From the outside, it may appear that nothing
9:39
significant is happening, yet beneath the surface,
9:42
the Holy Spirit is laying foundations that will
9:46
one day support an assignment far greater than
9:49
we can presently imagine. The hidden years remind
9:52
us that spiritual maturity cannot be rushed.
9:56
Fruit grows slowly, roots grow even more slowly,
10:00
yet both are necessary. No one admires the roots
10:04
of a tree because they cannot be seen. Everyone
10:07
notices the branches, the leaves, and the fruit.
10:11
Yet the greater the tree God intends to grow,
10:14
the deeper the roots must first become. Otherwise,
10:17
when the storms arrive, the very success we prayed
10:21
for could become the reason we fall. Perhaps
10:24
that is one of the reasons God hides His servants
10:27
before revealing them. He is not delaying their
10:30
assignment. He is strengthening the roots that
10:33
will support it. When I look back over Joseph's
10:36
life, I see the same principle. The prison. was
10:40
strengthening his roots before the palace ever
10:42
became visible. David's years with the sheep
10:45
and in the caves were deepening roots that would
10:48
later support the throne. Moses's wilderness
10:51
was driving his roots deeper than Pharaoh's palace
10:55
ever could. Daniel's years in Babylon established
10:58
convictions that no empire could uproot. Now
11:03
Paul teaches us that hiddenness itself can become
11:07
one of God's greatest workshops. Because sometimes
11:11
the greatest thing God accomplishes during a
11:14
season of waiting is not changing our circumstances,
11:18
it is changing us. Eventually, the hidden years
11:24
came to an end. The man whom God had been quietly
11:28
shaping would finally begin the assignment that
11:31
had been spoken over his life on the road to
11:33
Damascus. But something remarkable happened.
11:38
The forge did not end when Paul's ministry began.
11:42
In many ways, it became even hotter. Because
11:47
the servant who had been prepared in hiddenness
11:49
would now be prepared through suffering, persecution,
11:53
and prison. And that may be one of the greatest
11:56
paradoxes in the kingdom of God. Sometimes the
12:00
assignment is not the end of the forge. Sometimes
12:03
it is only the beginning. As I continue reflecting
12:08
on Paul's life, I realize there is another misconception
12:13
that many of us quietly carry. We often imagine
12:17
that once God's assignment begins, the difficult
12:20
season should finally come to an end. We assume
12:24
that preparation belongs to the past, and that
12:27
ministry should now become easier because we
12:30
are finally walking in the purpose God has revealed.
12:33
Yet Paul's life completely dismantles that expectation.
12:38
The moment Paul stepped into his assignment,
12:40
he did not step out of the forge. In many ways,
12:44
the forge became even more intense. From city
12:48
to city, he experienced opposition that most
12:50
of us can scarcely imagine. He was misunderstood
12:54
by those who once trusted him and rejected by
12:57
many who could not accept the gospel he preached.
13:01
He was beaten, imprisoned, falsely accused, driven
13:05
from cities, shipwrecked, hungry, exhausted,
13:09
and repeatedly faced the possibility of death.
13:12
If anyone had the right to ask God why ministry
13:16
had become so difficult, it was Paul. Yet something
13:21
remarkable stands out. Paul never interpreted
13:24
suffering as evidence that God had abandoned
13:27
him. Instead, he repeatedly saw it as part of
13:31
the calling itself. That challenges me, because
13:35
our natural instinct is often to measure God's
13:38
presence by the absence of difficulty. When life
13:41
becomes hard, we begin asking whether we missed
13:44
God's will. We wonder if we took the wrong path
13:47
or misunderstood His voice. Paul teaches us a
13:52
completely different perspective. Faithfulness
13:54
to God's assignment does not always remove hardship.
13:58
Sometimes it leads us directly into it, not because
14:01
God is displeased with us, but because he is
14:04
accomplishing something that comfort alone could
14:07
never produce. One of the most beautiful examples
14:11
of this appears while Paul is sitting in prison.
14:14
Imagine that scene for a moment. The man who
14:17
had traveled thousands of miles preaching the
14:20
gospel suddenly finds himself confined within
14:24
four walls. His freedom has been taken away.
14:28
His missionary journeys have stopped. His plans
14:31
have been interrupted. From a human perspective,
14:34
it appears that his ministry has been severely
14:38
limited. But heaven sees something entirely different.
14:42
While chains restrained Paul's body, they could
14:46
not restrain the word of God. Those prison walls
14:50
became the place where some of the most influential
14:53
letters in the history of Christianity were written.
14:57
Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon
15:00
were not produced in moments of comfort and convenience.
15:04
They were born in confinement, in uncertainty.
15:08
and in circumstances that many people would have
15:11
considered a setback. Can you imagine if Paul
15:15
had spent those years complaining instead of
15:17
writing? Can you imagine if he had concluded
15:21
that prison meant God's plan had failed? The
15:24
church would have lost treasures that have strengthened
15:28
believers for nearly 2 ,000 years. Instead, Paul
15:32
understood something that every servant of God
15:35
eventually has to learn. The assignment is never
15:38
limited by our circumstances. God's purpose is
15:42
greater than the place where we currently find
15:45
ourselves. That is exactly what we have been
15:48
discovering throughout this entire series. Joseph
15:52
thought prison had interrupted his future, yet
15:55
prison became the doorway to the palace. Moses
15:59
thought the wilderness had delayed his calling.
16:02
Yet the wilderness became the place where he
16:05
learned to depend entirely upon God. Esther could
16:09
never have imagined that becoming queen was part
16:12
of God's plan to preserve an entire nation. Daniel
16:17
never realized that Babylon would become the
16:20
platform through which kings would witness the
16:23
sovereignty of the living God. Now Paul teaches
16:26
us that even prison can become a pulpit when
16:29
God is writing the story. That is extraordinary.
16:33
Nothing had changed about God's assignment. The
16:36
location had changed. The method had changed.
16:40
The audience had changed. But the purpose remained
16:43
exactly the same. Perhaps that is one of the
16:46
greatest lessons we need to embrace today. We
16:49
often become discouraged when God changes the
16:52
way he accomplishes his purpose through our lives.
16:56
We expect his plan to unfold according to our
16:59
timeline and our preferred methods. Yet throughout
17:03
scripture, God continually demonstrates that
17:06
he is never limited by geography, opposition,
17:10
rejection, imprisonment, or delay. When one door
17:15
closes, he simply reveals another way for his
17:18
purpose to continue moving forward. Paul's prison
17:23
was never the end of his ministry. It became
17:26
another chapter in the forge. And perhaps that
17:30
is why his letters continue speaking today. They
17:33
were not written merely by a brilliant theologian.
17:38
They were written by a servant whose faith had
17:41
been tested, refined, purified and strengthened
17:44
through every season God allowed him to experience.
17:49
That is why his words still carry such weight.
17:52
They were forged before they were written. Paul's
17:58
hidden years prepared him for the assignment.
18:01
His sufferings deepened him within the assignment.
18:04
His prisons expanded the assignment. Nothing
18:07
God allowed in Paul's life was meaningless. Nothing
18:11
was accidental. Nothing was wasted. As we conclude
18:16
this conversation, there is one final truth that
18:19
brings every part of Paul's story together and
18:22
reveals why God sometimes chooses hiddenness
18:25
before influence, suffering before impact, and
18:30
waiting before fulfillment. And perhaps it is
18:33
one of the most encouraging lessons we have discovered
18:36
so far in this journey through Forge for Your
18:39
Future assignment. As I come to the end of Paul's
18:44
story, there is one thought that continues to
18:46
grow stronger in my heart. I no longer believe
18:50
that God's greatest objective was simply to make
18:53
Paul one of the greatest missionaries in history.
18:56
That certainly happened, but I do not think it
18:59
was God's highest goal. God was preparing Paul
19:02
to look more like Christ. When you begin reading
19:06
Paul's letters, you notice something remarkable.
19:09
The man who once relied upon his own accomplishments
19:12
gradually became a man who boasted only in Christ.
19:17
The Pharisee who had once found confidence in
19:20
his education, his reputation, and his religious
19:24
achievements eventually wrote that he considered
19:27
all those things loss compared to the surpassing
19:30
greatness of knowing Jesus Christ. That transformation
19:35
did not happen on the road to Damascus alone.
19:38
It was forged through years of walking with Christ.
19:41
It was forged through disappointments, persecutions,
19:45
imprisonments, unanswered questions, painful
19:49
sacrifices, lonely journeys, and moments when
19:53
Paul had nothing left to depend upon except the
19:56
faithfulness of God. The Holy Spirit was removing
20:01
everything that Paul could rely upon apart from
20:05
Christ until Christ himself became enough. Perhaps
20:09
that is one of the deepest works God accomplishes
20:13
in every servant he calls. Before he entrusts
20:16
us with greater influence, he patiently removes
20:20
every foundation that cannot sustain the weight
20:24
of his assignment. He teaches us not to place
20:27
our confidence in our gifts, our intelligence,
20:31
our experience, our position, or even our past
20:35
victories. Instead, he slowly brings us to the
20:39
place where our confidence rests entirely upon
20:43
him. That is why Paul could eventually write,
20:47
I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
20:51
Notice that he did not say he was born content.
20:54
He said he had learned. Learning implies a process.
20:59
It implies experiences. It implies seasons that
21:03
God intentionally used to teach lessons that
21:06
could never be learned in a classroom. He also
21:09
wrote, I can do all things through Christ who
21:13
strengthens me. We often quote those words when
21:16
we are pursuing success, but Paul wrote them
21:19
while reflecting on seasons of hunger. need,
21:23
abundance, suffering, and uncertainty. His confidence
21:27
was not built upon favorable circumstances. It
21:31
was built upon the unchanging presence of Christ.
21:36
That is the forge. The forge teaches us that
21:39
God's presence is greater than our circumstances.
21:43
The forge teaches us that His faithfulness is
21:46
not measured by how comfortable our lives become.
21:50
The Forge teaches us that his purpose continues
21:54
moving forward even when our plans appear to
21:57
stand still. When I step back and look at Paul's
22:00
entire journey, I realize that nothing God allowed
22:04
was random. Damascus was necessary. Arabia was
22:09
necessary. The hidden years were necessary. The
22:13
missionary journeys were necessary. The imprisonments
22:16
were necessary. Even the chains became instruments
22:20
through which the gospel reached places Paul
22:23
could never have imagined. Nothing was wasted.
22:27
And isn't that exactly what we have been discovering
22:30
from the very beginning of this series? Joseph's
22:34
prison was not wasted. David's caves were not
22:38
wasted. Moses' wilderness was not wasted. Esther's
22:42
palace was not wasted. Daniel's Babylon was not
22:46
wasted. Paul's hidden years and imprisonments
22:50
were not wasted. Every season became another
22:54
stroke of the master's hand, shaping his servants
22:57
for the assignments he had prepared long before
23:01
they understood them. Perhaps you are listening
23:04
today while living through one of those hidden
23:07
seasons. You love God. You know he has placed
23:12
something in your heart. Yet nothing seems to
23:15
be moving as quickly as you expected. Heaven
23:18
appears quiet, doors remain closed, and you wonder
23:23
whether God has forgotten what he promised. Paul's
23:27
life gently reminds us that God's silence should
23:30
never be confused with God's absence. The blacksmith
23:34
appears quiet while he is working. The roots
23:38
of a great tree grow silently beneath the ground.
23:42
A foundation is laid long before the building
23:45
becomes visible, and God's greatest work inside
23:49
His servants is often accomplished where human
23:53
eyes cannot see it. So if today you find yourself
23:57
in one of those hidden seasons, do not despise
24:00
it. Do not rush through it. Do not assume that
24:04
because the world does not see you, God is not
24:07
working in you. Perhaps He is accomplishing His
24:11
greatest work right now, because when God finally
24:14
reveals the assignment, He is not looking for
24:17
the most talented servant. He is looking for
24:20
the servant who has been faithfully forged. As
24:27
we continue our journey through Forge for Your
24:30
Future Assignment, we now arrive at one of the
24:33
most personal stories in all of Scripture. Unlike
24:37
Paul, whose forge was marked by hidden years
24:40
and suffering, our next servant will teach us
24:43
that God can even use our greatest failures as
24:46
part of His preparation. Peter loved Jesus with
24:50
all his heart, yet in one heartbreaking night,
24:54
he denied even knowing Him. Most people would
24:57
have concluded that Peter had disqualified himself
25:00
forever. Jesus had already determined otherwise.
25:05
Join me in our next conversation as we discover
25:08
that sometimes the Forge is not a prison, a wilderness,
25:12
a palace, a hostile culture, or hidden years.
25:16
Sometimes. The forge is our own brokenness and
25:19
we will discover that the God who prepares his
25:22
servants is also the God who restores them because
25:26
his calling is greater than our failures and
25:29
his grace is always writing a story that is far
25:32
bigger than our worst moment.