Lean Seasons

If you live long enough, and serve the ministry faithfully enough, you will have rain-soaked seasons, and sometimes feel yourself sinking in the mud. Others will be dry and barren and the harvest is scarce. Still others will be plentiful with just enough rain and decent weather to allow you to build a strong foundation.

The same goes for the measurement of times. There are hard years where you learn how important it is to trust in God and other years where the river of blessing continually flows. In fact,- it's those seasons of blessing that really prepare you for the lean seasons when you wonder which way do I go next.

I read a story recently of a pastor who served his church for over 30 years. During his administration his church grew at a phenomenal rate as well as his staff. However, things are often more complex than numbers and people. Growth, due to the personality of a man, is ambiguous and numbers don’t always equal faithfulness in troubled times. We really do forget the lean seasons when everything is going well and the numbers are high.

In his first 20 years his average Sunday morning attendance grew to over 1,000. People were being saved by the droves and filled with the Spirit. Some revivals would last for weeks at a time. It was during his last 10 years that the lean seasons came.Two of his staff members were removed for moral reasons. The shadow this event cast was long and painful because people always attach themselves to personalities. When this blow took place he experienced no growth in attendance for three years, the reputation of the church was harmed, attendance dropped, and the church members wondered if their season of blessing would ever return.

There were joys and blessings during that time, but in many ways those three years were heavy and sorrowful. Confusion affected both the pastor and the church. Publically these staff members were for the pastor, but secretly they had been plotting against him along with committing their moral failures. It appeared as if God's anointing on his ministry and the church had been lifted. It was a long lean season. When the lean season was lifted, during the next 7 years his attendance doubled, many new converts were won, and the confusion was washed away by a fresh outpouring of the Holy Ghost.

Make no mistake the lean seasons will come, but if you keep your hand on the plow and pray with patience, the Holy Ghost will bring a new day. Just don't get comfortable in your season now. Expect the lean seasons to come, but praise God the rain's not far behind!