Are You Hot?

A few days ago as I was waiting for the water to finish boiling for my morning cup of hot lemon tea. God used this simple waiting time to talk to me about doing things too soon. You see as I was standing there I was so tempted to take the pot from the stove too soon because I was in a hurry.  I heard the water boiling and even saw a small stream of steam coming from the top of the pot.  The problem was that the kettle had not whistled yet to let me know that the water was fully ready!

I began to understand that the same approach I was using with that hot water was sometimes the same approach I used in building the ministry the Lord has given my wife and I. I thought we were ready before the whistle came from God to go forward. We had small success which was the equivalent of the water boiling, we had doors opening which were like those small streams of steam, but we had not yet hit what we were looking for. We wanted our ministry to be a household name.

This is when God let me know that just like the water that I was boiling takes time to get ready, our ministry too was going to take time!  He let me know that if I had taken the pot from the fire too soon that my water would have been “lukewarm” and disgusting, and so would our ministry. If you know anything about the book of Revelation you know how God feels about being “lukewarm”, it’s something that He spews out of his mouth! (Revelation 3:16).

He wants you to be either “hot” or “cold” for Him! Since “lukewarm” is a place I DEFINITELY don’t want for our lives or our ministry, we decided that no matter how long it took for us  to go through the processes necessary to be “hot” for God, from beginning to end, we would go through it! The last thing that we want is to be a ministry that is more harmful than helpful to God’s people.

So, if you find yourself building something for God such as a ministry, writing a book, running a company, or simply working on a job, and it’s not going the way you would like, remember that He is just taking you through a necessary process.  God is preparing you for the position that you have been called to. He desires you to be “hot” for Him, from beginning to end, and the rest will fall into place!

-Carlos J. Phillips

Healed Without Scars Ministries, www.hwsministries.org