With every Christian, God does His preparation in a different way and in a different time. Illustrations of people's lives documented in Scripture indicate that His objectives are the same, but His methods vary with each individual. He creates circumstances which teach, humble, and bring self discovery. He is a master sanctifier who takes us to our limit, but never over it. He pushes our "buttons" and exposes our Heart. He shows us our motives and still loves us enough to bless us in spite of our fallen nature.

God's purposes in preparation are to bring purity, wisdom, and perseverance. These things can't be learned from books or sermons. These may help to bring understanding, but character can only be developed through experience.

Any parent knows that it is very difficult to let your child make a mistake. Yet without learning the lessons discovered in failing, the child cannot mature. Our failures and our sufferings can teach us and make us obedient, or can make us hardened. When we respond the wrong way, as the Children of Israel did in the Wilderness, it only prolongs the Process. God's persistent discipline may seem severe at the time, but when we are trained by Him and enter into the peaceful fruit of righteousness, we discover that His purging work is a demonstration of His mercy and kindness to us.

If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Heb. 12:8-11 NIV

All of the great men of the Bible were prepared for their ministry by God. These men were quite ordinary before God did His work of preparation. Most of them had obvious character flaws which God healed and strengthened so that their weakness became their greatest strength. When we worship Jesus and the Father in Heaven for all eternity, it will be in part because of His masterful redemption of His beloved Bride. We will overcome enemies much stronger than ourselves because of His "fathering" in our life. We think that when we meet Moses or King David or the Apostle Paul in Heaven, we will be in awe of their exploits, but we have the same God as they do, and He has not changed. They were just as broken and weak as we are, yet God caused them to conquer their enemies. This is one of the most important messages of the Bible. God can do powerful things with anyone who is surrendered to Him. In this season of restoration and glorification of the Church, we can expect that God will sanctify his prophets, teachers, apostles, evangelists and pastors. He will strengthen them so that the Devil will have nothing in which to gain a foothold in their life. He will armor them with righteousness and cause them to overcome the Flesh, the world, and the Devil. Scripture chronicles some of the patriarchs' journey with God. Those journeys reveal some of the ways God prepares His people for their ministry. Their lives have become examples for our own personal preparation for ministry.

Moses
Moses was an important figure in the history of God's people. He demonstrated one aspect of Jesus' role to us as deliverer. God's preparation for Moses' ministry started before he was born. God not only preserved Moses' life, but also provided for his education when he was adopted into Pharaoh's household. His early identification with his people and the killing of the abusive Egyptian may be indications of both his weakness and his motivation, and also his hatred for injustice. Nonetheless, this action drove him into the Wilderness where he spent the next 40 years tending sheep. This was the preparation of Moses for his ministry of leadership, intercession, and prophecy to Egypt and to the Children of Israel. He learned about the Wilderness and about managing sheep. He was also humbled a great deal from his former life in the courts of the Pharaoh. Most certainly there were times when he wondered if his choice to leave Pharaoh's court and become like his people was the right one. In the natural, it seemed like the all-time blunder of blunders. He was in exile from Egypt and his people. He could have assumed a role of authority in the Egyptian government. In man's eyes, he had failed. Moses had to accept, even if he failed, that he had done what he believed was right. This was an important part of his preparation because he was later described as the humblest man on the face of the earth at the time. He wasn't born humble. He was humbled by the circumstances he lived through.

The term "humble" is often misunderstood. Humility can be defined as a view of ourselves in light of who God is. Moses discovered God while in the midst of his humble circumstances. The Wilderness taught Moses dependency on God, which was necessary for the deliverance of the Children of Israel. His work with the sheep was not unlike his leadership role of Israel. His education was important because he needed to speak to Pharaoh, not as an uneducated slave, but as a former member of his court. It was also important for him in his leadership of Israel to have a formal education.

In the early stages of Moses' role as deliverer of Israel, he seemed afraid of what he had himself into. As he saw the power of God come to deliver Israel and confirm his leadership, he became more confident. During his 40 years in the Wilderness, Moses developed a relationship with God which was the foundation for his preparation for ministry. It was his revelation of God that produced his humility, then his vision, then his dedication, and finally his authority. Because He had grown to know and trust God, he was able to lead two million people out of Egypt into a land they did not know. Moses knew He could not do it in his own power and that He would have to depend on God to do it. It was this dependence on God that made him prepared and ready. The very fact that he felt unable to do it was an indication that he was ready to allow God to do it through Him. When Moses killed the Egyptian soldier, he was not surrendered to God. He was doing what He thought was God's work, in his own way. It was the work of his Flesh, not the Spirit of God. Much of the Church's ministry today is good things done in human ways. This does not please God neither does it accomplish His purposes. After forty years in the Wilderness, under God's sanctifying process, Moses emerged as a man fully surrendered and trusting in God. Only then could God use him to do powerful exploits through which His purposes were accomplished. Moses allowed God to be revealed through him to Israel, the Egyptians, and all the nations around them.

David
King David's preparation was different, but in some ways similar to that of Moses. As a young man, he spent time learning to shepherd sheep and to build his relationship with the Lord. Early in his life, his gift of faith began to be demonstrated in fearless acts of courage to defend his sheep. As a young boy, he killed a lion and a bear with few or no weapons. By the time he came to be an armor bearer for Saul, he was familiar with how the Spirit of God had been working through him. He had a gift of faith for the moment and the personal faith of experience to support his "call". He was also being prepared by serving in the court of the King of Israel, particularly in the area of war and battle. He learned some of the basic principles of ruling a nation and he learned some things which a leader should not do. God often prepares us by showing us what not to do. Soon after his defeat of the Philistine army, David found himself graduating from his practical education as a "ruler in training" to his development as a man of godly character. He was falsely accused by Saul and had to escape to avoid being killed. He was innocent but driven into the Wilderness by circumstances beyond his control. It was in the Wilderness God humbled him and tested him. Twice, David had an opportunity to slay Saul and both times he refused to take his "call" to be king into his own hands. David was made king by an act of God. Although David was a mighty warrior, he understood that he could not make a place for himself. He waited for God to raise him up. As long as Saul was alive, he understood it was not time for him to be King. He knew that if he were to rule in the power of the Holy Spirit, he could not take control of his life, but would have to surrender to the timing and way God wanted to make him King. David did not seek power or authority, but was given them as he surrendered to the Holy Spirit. David demonstrated the same type of surrender that Christ had for His Father. This is what it means to give up your life, to gain it. (Matt. 16:25)

It was God who had David in the Wilderness, and who would bring him back when He had achieved His goal of preparing him for his ministry to Israel. Even when Saul finally died, he waited for another 16 months before taking his position as King of Judah. His life was not his own. He was completely surrendered to the Holy Spirit. There was in David no love of position or lust for power. His love was for God. The Psalms that David wrote reveal a deep love and trust for God. This love and surrender was developed, in part, in the things he suffered in the Wilderness. He was filled with the same Holy Spirit we are. He did not receive these character traits by some special act of God. He was prepared by God for his ministry. He was called to rule over a nation. We are called to rule over the things of this world in the Holy Spirit. David became a great leader and man of God not in a day or a week or a few months. David learned to surrender to the Holy Spirit and show humility toward God so that He could become what God "called" him to be. He did not get the love, trust, surrender, and humility that was the foundation for his service to God in some supernatural event, but over years of preparation by Saul's side and in the Wilderness. Somewhere in this preparation, David came to see that his relationship with God was the center of life. Anything else that life could offer was of no real value except in obedience to God. When he danced naked before the Lord, it was an expression of his total disregard for the values of this world, and his supreme regard for his relationship with God as the central focus and reason for living. He was not trapped in the temporal, trivial pursuit of being a King. He was first, a lover of God. David was an example for us of a man who was fully human, with victories and failings, being prepared, used, and pleasing to God.

Joseph
Joseph was called by God to become a type of saviour for his people. This would bring glory to God. What He was able to do through Joseph was recorded for our benefit. It proves that God is able to provide for his people, and has a plan for that provision many years in advance. It also reveals how God prepares ordinary people so that His power and provision will flow through them.

Joseph's story was designed by God to reveal Himself and His ways. Joseph was the favourite son of his father. Joseph was unwise and cocky in his attitude toward his brothers. He inflamed their jealousy by flaunting the dream of his older brothers serving him. Why did God give the dream? He knew the potential risk for a reaction between Joseph and his brothers. It was part of His plan. It was the prophetic dream that drove Joseph into his personal Wilderness and forward into the fulfilment of his calling and the purpose of God. In the midst of his rejection and life-threatening circumstances, God was fully in control and working out His plan.

Joseph was bought by Potifer, an officer of Pharaoh. His gifting, as a prophet and as an administrator, was given an opportunity to be used within the household. He spent some time there learning the practical skills of administrating. When he had accomplished this portion of his preparation, he was propositioned by Potifer's wife. Joseph responded to the situation, not out of his need, but out of his relationship with God and loyalty for his master. These were the two things that would be necessary for his successful ministry as an administrator second-in-command to Pharaoh. Loyalty and self control were prerequisites. Had he not passed this test, he would have had to go back and relearn the lesson. The test itself became the agent to move him along to the next stage of his preparation. He was falsely accused and imprisoned. It was in prison that Joseph's prophetic gifting was developed. He also further developed his administrative gift. God chose prison as the venue for that preparation because it was a humbling place. If Joseph became a powerful man and provided for the Egyptians, but refused his brothers when they came for food, then God's plan would have failed. Joseph's Heart had to be softened and filled with compassion. Compassion comes from the experience of pain. While in prison, Joseph thought about his home and his family. He longed for them and desired to be in fellowship with them. It was the longing for his family that brought him to forgiveness and healing. There was further preparation as well. When Joseph interpreted the first dream, he said (to paraphrase), "Please remember me, here in prison, and get me out." He was struggling to get himself released from prison. God, however, did not release him at this time. Two more years passed before he was released through no effort of his own. What happened, during those two years in prison that was so necessary for his full preparation? Scripture does not reveal specifically what happened, but if we place ourselves in the same circumstances, we may see how that time in prison tested Joseph's faith. He surely remembered the dream and wondered if it would ever be fulfilled. He thought about all the injustice he had suffered. He probably questioned why God had him in these circumstances and how He was able to deliver him, but didn't. These difficult tests of his faith were the grains of sand that made his pearl of great price.

Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread. He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant whose feet they hurt with fetters. He was laid in iron until the time that his word came. The word of the LORD tried him. Psalms 105:16-19 NIV

Somewhere during those two additional years in prison, Joseph accepted God's authority in his life. He stopped struggling to get out of jail and embraced all God had for him where He was. He came to accept that even if he spent the rest of his life in prison he had all he needed to be happy and fulfilled - God. He also came to realize that it was God's mercy and love for him that had him where he was. When he emerged from prison, he was a compassionate, humble, wise, and faithful man. He was fully prepared in the use of his gifting and in character, which were critical to the success of his calling. Without this preparation, he probably would have sent his brothers away without his help. Joseph acted as God acts toward us - with love and compassion even though he was rejected and treated unjustly. Joseph remained faithful to God even in suffering and rejection and He was made by God more like Himself. When he finally became the second most powerful man in Egypt, he was able to handle that power without it destroying his character and values. If God had given Joseph the prophetic power and prosperity when he was a young man, he would have misused it. He may have flaunted it and "lorded" it over people, instead of humbly using it for the good of others. He may have used his own understanding instead of depending on God for wisdom. Many people when given power have been destroyed by it, or have brutalized others with it. The qualities of our Hearts and our surrender to the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit makes the gifts of God fruitful in the Kingdom. Without God's preparation, we would be unable to handle the power and authority He wants to give us. At any point in Joseph's preparation, he could have failed to cooperate with God. He could have refused to forgive, or succumbed to Potifer's wife as a way of comforting himself in his alienation from his home and family, but he didn't. He put his faith in God as his provider and deliverer, even in the time of testing.

The true measure of our maturity as Believer's is not how much we know, or how well we serve. It is measured by the degree of difficult circumstances and suffering we can overcome through our faith in God. The more difficult the circumstances, the closer we are to the fulfilment or release of our true call.

Paul
It was by God's design that Paul was born in Tarsus. In the early stages of Paul's life, this fact may have seemed insignificant, but later it became an integral part of God's plan for Paul's life and call. It proves that God has every detail of His plan for a Believer's life carefully worked out right from the beginning. Paul was educated in Jerusalem with the most influential theologians of the day. He was a Pharisee and quite zealous by nature. He persecuted the Church as part of his misguided service to God. When he was knocked off his horse on the road to Damascus and converted, he was immediately humbled. He considered himself to be pious and a defender of the laws of God. In his conversion, he realized that in spite of all his learning, he had not found God. He was blinded, and it was necessary for him to be lead around by others. He was faced with the prospect of being blind for the rest of his life. The Church that he had persecuted, prayed for his healing. God rubbed Paul's nose in his own folly but it was good for him. He was already being de-programmed from the way he used to think about God and His Kingdom and began to learn God's ways. Paul spent the next years of his life in his personal wilderness in Arabia. He earned a living as a tentmaker. As a Pharisee, a scholar and religious zealot, this was an occupation well below his stature. In Arabia, however, he needed to find a way to make a living and as humbling as it was, tent making was it.

When Paul began his teaching ministry, he was able to communicate the truths about the Gospel with a perspective on the Old Covenant. He drew valuable comparisons between the old and the new covenants for the Church. His preaching was so powerful that he was threatening to the Jews and the gentiles. He had persecuted the Church, and persecution was now his main opposition. Persecution is the fuel which feeds the fire of passion and purity. Paul required great dedication and commitment to conquer the opposition and difficulties that faced him. He was a man characterized by zeal and single mindedness. He was focused on completing the call, at all costs. He was the right man for the call, with the right gift, who was fully prepared by God.

Ordinary Men
The Scriptures recount the lives of ordinary men whom God used to bring a witness of Himself and to demonstrate His love for all people. The preparation for the call was critical to their success. In the lives of the godly men of the Bible, God used adversity, rejection, and difficulty of all manner to shape and mould their character. It was these difficulties which prepared and humbled them to minister. The trials shaped who they became, and who they became was their preparation for fruitful ministry.

There are three stages to the preparation: formal education and knowledge, the development and use of the Believer's gifts, and the humbling and development of the person's Heart. Proverbs 24:3-4 says that a house is built on three things; wisdom, understanding and knowledge.

God has revealed in many Scriptures that every detail of our preparation has been planned. He has also revealed His methods of preparation. Not even Jesus escaped the testing of the Wilderness. God's preparation of our lives is perfect. The parents to whom we were born, the town in which we grew up, and the friends we have had, good or bad, all have contributed to our preparation, to fulfill the purpose for which we were created. If we feel that we could have done more, or had a better chance to be what God wants for our life, "if only......", then we are accusing God of making a mistake with us. Only He knows how He will fulfill the call He placed on our life before we were born. We have a destiny which was established when God created Adam. He knew us then and appointed this time and in this way to fulfill His purpose for our life. All we can do to mess that up is to exercise our right of choice and go our own way. The Children of Israel rebelled and refused to trust God with their lives. They accused Him of not really loving and caring for them. They could not move forward in God because they did not believe He would make all their difficulties into the fulfilment of His promise to them. They didn't understand that they had to be prepared to enter the Promise of God. Even Paul warned us about the war that rages in us to lead us to spend our lives in pursuit of comfort and fleshly desires.

Those who live according to the sinful nature, have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit, have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature, cannot please God. Romans 8: 5-8 NIV

The Adamic Nature is hostile to God and His purposes for our life. We must be at war with the Flesh, so we don't become as the Children of Israel did and die, never knowing the fulfilment of completing the call God has appointed for us. Our serving the Flesh is subtle and easily justified by the rationale of the human nature. Only God can judge the motives and intentions of the Heart. He will judge our Hearts if we ask Him. He will fulfill us with more of Himself, and give more pleasure in Him than we thought possible. This is His promise to us:

"Although you have been forsaken and hated, with no-one travelling through, I will make you the everlasting pride and the joy of all generations. You will drink the milk of nations and be nursed at royal breasts. Then you will know that I, the LORD, am your Saviour, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. Instead of bronze I will bring you gold, and silver in place of iron. Instead of wood I will bring you bronze, and iron in place of stones. I will make peace your governor and righteousness your ruler. No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise. The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end. Isa. 60:15-20 NIV