Latest / PAMOJA PODCAST | PAMOJA MINISTRY, A LIFE OF CHRIST INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES / FORGED FOR YOUR FUTURE ASSIGNMENT | Episode 1 God prepares the servant before He reveals the assignment.

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FORGED FOR YOUR FUTURE ASSIGNMENT | Episode 1 God prepares the servant before He reveals the assignment. · PAMOJA PODCAST | PAMOJA MINISTRY, A LIFE OF CHRIST INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES

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  Welcome to Pamoja Podcast, the place where stronger
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  lives are built, faith is strengthened, hearts
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  are encouraged, and Christ -centered homes are
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  shaped through ordinary conversations that become
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  extraordinary encounters with God's truth. One
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  conversation, one story, one revelation at a
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  time. I'm your host, Barry Mwamba. And history
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  has always fascinated us. Generation after generation,
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  we write books about remarkable men and women.
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  We build museums in their honor. We produce documentaries
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  about their lives. We study their leadership.
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  We admire their courage. We celebrate their achievements.
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  Names like Nelson Mandela, who spent 27 years
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  in prison before becoming the first democratically
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  elected president of South Africa. Abraham Lincoln.
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  who endured repeated failures, personal heartbreak,
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  and political defeat before leading his nation
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  through one of its darkest chapters. Winston
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  Churchill, whose years in political isolation
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  prepared him for the hour Britain needed him
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  most. Corey Ten Boom, whose imprisonment became
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  a testimony of forgiveness that continues to
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  inspire millions around the world. History remembers
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  their victories. History celebrates their influence.
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  History honors their legacy. But history often
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  forgets the fire. It remembers the throne, but
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  rarely the prison. It remembers the crown, but
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  rarely the cave. It remembers the applause, but
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  rarely the tears. It remembers the promotion,
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  but rarely the preparation. Yet if you carefully
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  study the lives of those who left a lasting mark
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  on the world, you begin to notice something remarkable.
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  Great influence is rarely born in comfort. Character
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  is rarely formed in convenience. Enduring leadership
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  is almost always forged in adversity. The question
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  is, why? Is it merely coincidence? that so many
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  lives of significance pass through seasons of
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  suffering before reaching seasons of influence?
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  Or is there a deeper principle, one that existed
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  long before history books were written, long
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  before leadership seminars were created, long
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  before psychologists studied resilience, and
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  long before the world gave it a name? Open the
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  scriptures. and an extraordinary pattern begins
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  to emerge. A young man named Joseph dreamed of
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  leadership, but before the palace, there was
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  a pit. Before the pit could be forgotten, there
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  was slavery. Before slavery ended, there was
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  false accusation. Before freedom arrived, there
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  was prison, and only after the prison came the
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  throne. David was anointed king. Long before
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  he ever wore a crown, between the anointing and
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  the throne stood giants, jealousy, betrayal,
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  wilderness, and caves. Moses carried a deliverer's
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  calling, but 40 years passed in a desert before
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  he ever stood before Pharaoh. Esther carried
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  the destiny of a nation, but first she lived
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  as an orphan, an exile. A young woman whose future
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  seemed hidden from everyone except God. Daniel's
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  road to influence passed through Babylon. Paul's
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  road to the nations passed through years of hidden
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  preparation. Peter's leadership was forged through
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  failure, brokenness, and restoration. And above
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  all, Jesus Christ, before receiving the name
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  above every name, walked the road to Calvary.
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  Do you see it? Different people. Different generations.
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  Different cultures. Different assignments. Yet
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  the same pattern. The throne never came before
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  the forge. Because throughout scripture, God
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  reveals something that changes the way we understand
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  our own lives. He is not merely interested in
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  giving people assignments. He is first committed.
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  to preparing the people who will carry them.
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  Perhaps that is why some of the darkest seasons
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  in the lives of God's people became the very
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  places where he was shaping them for something
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  they could not yet see. The prison was not separate
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  from Joseph's assignment. The wilderness was
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  not separate from Moses' calling. The cave was
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  not separate from David's kingdom. The cross
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  was not the end of Christ's mission. It became
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  the doorway through which redemption entered
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  the world. What if the fire you have been praying
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  to escape is the very place where God is preparing
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  you for your future assignment? What if your
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  greatest season of confusion is not evidence
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  that God has abandoned his purpose? but evidence
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  that He has already begun preparing you for it.
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  Today, we begin a journey through one of the
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  most beautiful, encouraging, and life -changing
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  patterns found in all of scripture. A journey
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  that will forever change the way you look at
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  trials, waiting, disappointment, and even your
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  greatest battles. Because if the Bible teaches
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  us anything, It is this, God never wastes the
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  forge, because he never wastes the assignment.
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  There is one question that has echoed through
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  every generation, a question whispered through
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  tears, asked in hospital rooms, spoken in lonely
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  prison cells, cried out in seasons of disappointment,
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  and repeated by countless believers who sincerely
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  love God, Lord. Why am I going through this?
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  Why the delay? Why the rejection? Why the misunderstanding?
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  Why the betrayal? Why the waiting? Why the fire?
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  If you have called me, why does the road seem
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  so difficult? If you are with me, why does it
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  feel like I am walking through darkness? Those
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  questions are not new. Joseph asked them. David
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  lived them. Jeremiah cried them. Job wrestled
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  with them even John the Baptist sitting in prison
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  sent messengers to Jesus asking Are you the one
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  who was to come or should we expect someone else?
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  Faithful people have always wrestled with difficult
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  seasons, but perhaps We have been asking the
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  wrong question Perhaps a question is not Lord.
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  Why am I going through this? Perhaps a question
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  should be Lord, what are you preparing me for?
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  That one question changes everything, because
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  God does not see our lives the way we do. We
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  measure our lives by events. God measures our
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  lives by preparation. We celebrate arrival. God
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  values formation. We become excited about platforms.
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  God is concerned about character. We pray for
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  promotion. God prepares us for responsibility
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  because God knows something we often forget.
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  An assignment is only as effective as the person
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  carrying it. The greatest danger is not receiving
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  an assignment too late. The greatest danger is
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  receiving it too early. Imagine placing the crown
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  of Israel on David's head the day Samuel anointed
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  him. He would have worn the crown without learning
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  humility, without learning dependence upon God,
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  without learning to forgive, without learning
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  to lead, without learning that victory belongs
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  to the Lord. The throne would have destroyed
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  the man. So God did not simply prepare a kingdom
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  for David. God prepared David for the kingdom.
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  The same was true for Joseph. Pharaoh needed
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  someone who could lead Egypt through the greatest
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  famine in history. But dreams alone do not prepare
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  a ruler. Knowledge alone does not prepare a ruler.
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  Even gifting alone does not prepare a ruler.
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  Character does. Wisdom does. Humility does. Faithfulness
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  does. Those qualities cannot be learned in comfort.
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  They are forged. Forged in places where no one
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  applauds. Forged in places where no one notices.
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  Forged in places where only God sees what he
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  is creating. And isn't that exactly how a blacksmith
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  works? He never places steel into the fire because
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  he hates the steel. He places it there because
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  he sees what the steel can become. The fire does
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  not create the vision. The fire reveals it the
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  hammer does not destroy the metal it shapes it
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  again and again and again fire pressure cooling
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  back into the fire more shaping more strengthening
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  until one day what entered the forge as ordinary
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  metal leaves carrying a purpose it could never
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  have fulfilled without the fire perhaps that
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  is why Peter writes Do not be surprised at the
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  fiery trial that has come upon you to test you
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  as though something strange were happening to
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  you. Peter knew he had lived it. The man who
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  once denied Jesus became the apostle who boldly
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  proclaimed Christ before kings and councils.
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  He too had been forged. Throughout scripture,
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  God never calls people because they are already
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  finished. He calls them and then he forms them.
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  He anoints them and then he prepares them. He
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  gives them a promise and then he builds the person
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  who can faithfully carry that promise. That is
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  why the distance between the promise and its
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  fulfillment is often called preparation and maybe
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  That is where some of you are today. You are
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  not being forgotten. You are not being abandoned.
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  You are not living through meaningless delays.
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  You are standing inside the forge. Not because
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  God is punishing you, but because God refuses
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  to send you into your future without first preparing
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  you for it. Because the God who prepares the
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  assignment always prepares the servant before
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  revealing the full weight of the assignment.
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  Now that we understand why God prepares His people,
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  another question naturally arises. How does He
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  do it? Why did Joseph need a prison, David a
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  cave, Moses a wilderness, and Esther an exile?
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  Were those painful seasons merely unfortunate
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  events? or were they carefully woven into God's
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  preparation? Let's open the scriptures and begin
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  with a young dreamer who thought his journey
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  to the throne would begin in a palace, but instead,
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  God led him to a pit. There is something fascinating
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  about the life of Joseph. Most people remember
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  the dreams, the colorful robe, the pit, the prison.
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  the palace, but I believe many people miss the
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  greatest lesson hidden within his story. Joseph's
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  life was never simply moving from one location
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  to another. God was moving Joseph from one version
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  of himself to another. When Joseph received the
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  dreams, he was only 17 years old. He was sincere.
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  He loved God. He possessed extraordinary favor.
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  He carried a divine calling, but although he
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  possessed the dream, the dream had not yet produced
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  the man. The assignment already existed. The
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  person was still being prepared. That changes
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  the entire story, because suddenly, the pit was
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  no longer simply a tragedy. It became the first
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  classroom. Slavery was no longer merely injustice.
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  It became another classroom. Potiphar's house
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  became another classroom. False accusation, another
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  classroom. Prison, another classroom. Every place
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  was teaching Joseph something Egypt never could.
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  Imagine if Joseph had become prime minister the
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  week after receiving the dreams. Would he have
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  understood broken people? Would he have learned
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  humility? Would he have resisted bitterness?
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  Would he have managed power wisely? Would he
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  have recognized that authority belongs to God?
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  Probably not. Because character cannot be downloaded.
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  It must be developed. And development takes time.
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  Sometimes more time than we would ever choose.
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  That is why Genesis never says, God abandoned
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  Joseph. In fact, the Bible repeatedly says something
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  remarkable. The Lord was with Joseph. Notice
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  where scripture says that, not only in the palace,
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  not only during promotion, not only after the
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  dreams came true. It says it in slavery. It says
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  it in prison. God's presence did not wait for
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  Joseph's promotion. His presence accompanied
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  Joseph through the preparation. That alone should
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  encourage someone listening today. Perhaps You
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  have mistaken the absence of promotion for the
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  absence of God. Joseph would tell you those are
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  not the same thing. Sometimes God is closest
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  in the very season where nothing around you appears
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  to be changing. Then there is another detail
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  that has always amazed me. Joseph never stopped
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  being Joseph. He served in Potiphar's house.
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  with excellence. He served in prison with excellence.
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  He interpreted dreams without demanding recognition.
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  He remained faithful when no one was watching.
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  That is one of the greatest marks of someone
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  being forged. Because faithfulness, that depends
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  upon recognition, is not yet mature. True faithfulness
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  continues, whether anyone applauds or not. Joseph
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  did not prepare himself for Pharaoh. He simply
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  remained faithful where God had placed him. And
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  one morning, everything changed. Not because
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  Joseph chased the throne, but because the throne
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  was finally ready for the Joseph. God had finished
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  preparing. Think about that. The palace was never
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  Joseph's miracle. Joseph had become the miracle.
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  The prison had already accomplished its purpose.
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  The forge had completed its work. And when the
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  moment came, God did not need years to elevate
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  Joseph. He did it in a single day. One moment,
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  Joseph was wearing prison clothes. A few hours
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  later, he wore Pharaoh's signet ring. One conversation,
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  one interpretation, one divine appointment. and
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  decades of preparation suddenly became visible.
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  Never confuse the speed of your promotion with
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  the length of God's preparation. He may prepare
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  you for years and then accomplish in one day
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  what no human effort could achieve in a lifetime.
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  That is how God works. He prepares quietly before
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  He reveals publicly. He builds deeply. Before
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  he elevates visibly he forges secretly before
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  he entrusts openly and perhaps that is why The
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  prison was never Joseph's greatest obstacle it
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  became the doorway to his future assignment Joseph
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  was not the exception. He was the pattern because
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  after Joseph God did exactly the same thing again
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  this time not with the prisoner but with a shepherd,
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  not in a prison, but in a wilderness, not before
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  Pharaoh, but before a giant. His name was David.
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  And once again, God would prove that before he
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  entrusts a throne, he first forges the heart
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  that will sit upon it. If Joseph had been the
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  only person who walked through the forge, perhaps
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  we could call his story an exception. But the
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  moment we continue reading the Bible, we discover
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  Joseph was never the exception. He was the pattern.
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  David was the same. Samuel poured oil upon his
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  head. God declared him the future king of Israel.
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  The assignment was announced, but the throne
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  did not immediately follow. Instead, God led
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  him back to the sheep. Think about that. Imagine
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  being anointed king, only to return to the same
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  field, the same sheep, the same ordinary responsibilities.
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  Nothing appeared to change, except David. Because
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  while everyone else was waiting for a king, God
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  was preparing one. The wilderness became David's
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  classroom. The lion was not simply an attack,
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  it was preparation. The bear, was not simply
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  another danger, it was preparation. Goliath was
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  not merely a battle, it was preparation. Even
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  Saul's jealousy became preparation. The caves
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  became preparation. The years of running became
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  preparation. David was learning how to trust
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  God when nothing around him made sense. He was
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  learning how to lead before anyone called him
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  king. He was learning how to worship while living
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  in uncertainty. He was learning how to spare
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  the very man who wanted to kill him. Because
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  one day, David himself would hold power and God
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  wanted to know what kind of king he would become.
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  The cave prepared the throne. Then comes Moses
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  raised in Pharaoh's palace, educated in Egypt,
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  strong, passionate. ready to deliver Israel,
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  at least according to his own understanding.
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  But God saw something Moses could not yet see.
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  He possessed passion. He lacked preparation.
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  One day, Moses tried to accomplish God's assignment
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  through human strength. The result was failure.
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  He fled into the wilderness. 40 years. 40 silent
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  years. 40 years. That must have looked like wasted
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  time, forty years, that probably appeared to
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  have buried his calling forever. Yet those forty
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  years were never wasted. The prince became a
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  shepherd. The confident man became the humble
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  servant who would later say, I am not able. The
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  man who once believed he was ready became the
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  man. God could finally send because God's assignments
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  are never carried by human confidence alone.
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  They are carried by people who have learned to
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  depend completely upon him. Then comes Esther,
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  an orphan living in exile, far from the promised
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  land. Nothing about her life suggested she would
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  influence an empire. Yet every hidden chapter
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  was moving her toward one unforgettable moment.
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  For such a time as this, Notice something. God
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  did not prepare Esther the day Haman issued his
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  decree. He had been preparing her long before.
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  The crisis arrived because that is how God works.
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  He prepares his servants before their assignment
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  arrives. Now step back and look at them together.
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  Joseph, David, Moses, Esther. Different stories,
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  different generations, different circumstances.
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  The same God, the same forge, the same preparation,
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  the same principle. God never prepared the assignment
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  first. He prepared the servant. And suddenly,
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  perhaps your own story begins to make a little
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  more sense. Maybe the waiting has not been punishment.
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  Maybe the delay has not been rejection. Maybe
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  the fire has not been abandonment. Perhaps. God
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  has been doing what he has always done, forging
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  his servant before revealing the full weight
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  of the assignment. As we close this first conversation,
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  I want to leave you with one thought. Stop asking,
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  Lord, when will my assignment begin? Perhaps
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  it already has. Perhaps the forge is the first
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  chapter of your assignment. Because every prison,
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  every cave, every wilderness, every season of
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  waiting, every misunderstood moment, every faithful
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  act that no one applauded may be part of God's
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  preparation for something you cannot yet see.
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  Never measure God's faithfulness by your current
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  location. Joseph measured it from the throne.
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  David measured it from the kingdom. Moses measured
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  it at the Red Sea. Esther measured it after a
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  nation was saved. And we measure it at an empty
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  tomb. Because the greatest forge in history was
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  never the prison. It was never the cave. It was
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  never the wilderness. It was a rugged cross outside
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  Jerusalem. When the world believed Jesus had
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  lost, God was accomplishing the greatest victory.
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  History would ever know, never judge, God's work
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  by Friday. He has already prepared Sunday, and
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  perhaps one day you will look back at the very
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  season you begged God to remove, only to discover
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  it was the place where He forged you for your
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  future assignment. As we close this first conversation,
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  one truth has become impossible to ignore. Joseph
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  was not the exception. David was not the exception.
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  They were part of a divine pattern, a pattern
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  that has echoed throughout the pages of scripture,
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  from Genesis to Revelation. Because before God
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  entrusts great assignments, he first forges his
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  servants. But Joseph's prison and David's caves
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  are only the beginning. There are still wildernesses
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  to explore, burning bushes, exiles, lion's dens,
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  fiery furnaces, prisons, storms, crosses, and
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  in every one of them, the same God is doing the
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  same work. Join me in our next conversation as
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  we continue uncovering this extraordinary biblical
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  pattern through the life of Moses, because what
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  looked like 40 years of silence was actually
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  40 years of preparation. The wilderness was never
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  the interruption of Moses' calling. It became
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  the forge of his future assignment. Until then,
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  remember this, God never wastes the forge, because
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  he never wastes the assignment.