Abraham Lincoln said
“If I have 4 hours to chop a tree, I will spend 3 hours sharpening my axe.”
Preparation time is not wasted time, nor is waiting time wasted time. It is a powerful principle designed by God the Father. Christ needed 30 years to prepare for a 3 year assignment that would evolve into an everlasting legacy. For me, it was 25 years of Labour in the Vineyard, under the finest teacher, for this I am forever grateful.
Everyone is only a day away from tangible greatness and significance, but the years of seeming toil, even bruises and wounds are a much needed training centre to produce an everlasting product that won’t be forgotten or wasted. It was only after those years of training and preparation did I hear the spirit saying “Your Ministry is running late”, upon hearing these words in my spirit I realized that God was serious about me fulfilling my next level of assignment. So God began to use me in a wider Ministry of preaching and teaching nationally and internationally and the amazing thing about this assignment is that it was happening so quickly, it was beyond me.
It was as if God took 25 years of preparation to prepare me for “an overnight manifestation of significance.” But answering to this God ordained assignment meant that my relationship with people, especially the ones whose opinions you once cherished were severed, rejected and fearfully misunderstood. You cannot please God and Man at the same time. I learnt “you owe no man an apology to do the will of God for your life, and on the road to fulfilling your God given assignment crisis is normal”. But in all this God was just setting me up!
The Bible says: “All things work together for good to those who love the Lord, and are called by His name” (Rom 8:28). Sometimes we only see what we are going through; God sees where we are going to. However, through it all I thank God for His grace that helped me to stay focused. Dr Martin Lloyd Jones said “A man should enter the Christian Ministry only if he cannot stay out of it.” I failed to stay out of it!
Although itinerary preaching suited me and my lifestyle, it wasn’t the will of God for my life. God wanted me to seek Kingdom productivity to be able to develop potential in others and to be able to instruct, inspire and stimulate the people with the pure word of God, God wanted me to give from myself rather than take for myself. Finally, God told me, “someone desperately needs you to complete their life; you will be a reward to many like Joshua was to Moses”. These are few principles that gave birth to Salt and Sunshine Ministries, and my fervent prayer is that this church will be a spiritual school where people are equipped and released into their God-given purposes (Eph. 4:11-12). This church will be a haven for Spiritual Vitality and not just a Venue for Religious activity. We will strive to be significant rather than successful. We will strive to complete the Work, not compete the Work.
To my leadership, you are the nucleus of dedicated people, I praise God for you. May God strengthen us as we partner together in moving Gods people from being accurate to being exact representatives of Christ. Lets remain faithful, focused and fixed to the purposes of God. We are the Salt of the Earth, and we will bring the Sunshine of love and hope to the whole wide world!
Yours in Christ
Rev. Rajen Naidoo