When I asked a friend what it was like to have a baby later in life, she exclaimed, “I have zero regrets. I know who I am, and I can enjoy my child and give 100%. I couldn’t do that before.”
It takes a whole and healed person to pastor God’s people. When God calls you to pastoral ministry, you can liken it to motherhood. It’s a 100% give. There’s nothing fair about 3 a.m. feedings or dirty diapers one after another. Me-time is a rare occasion.
In exchange, your reward is this: to see a person grow strong and healthy and to know you were a part of their process.
The Truth About Ministry
People are needy.
Like a baby who hungers at 3 a.m. and doesn’t consider that Mommy’s tired, so too will people make pastoral demands of you at your emptiest. Will you see past the thorns to recognize the person who needs Jesus in you? Or will you trigger hurts from your childhood when nobody was there for you?
Don’t skip the process of dealing with your brokenness, lest you take life instead of giving it. To nurture God’s people, you must be whole and healed.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep” (John 10:11).
You Need to Grow in Favor with Man
“A prophet’s goal is to represent the Lord and to draw people to Christ. A pastor walks with the people—in Christ—every single day.” — Apostle Colette Toach.
You can’t get away from the crowd the way you used to. Your home is with the people now. A pastor counsels, teaches, reteaches and does life with God’s people until Christ forms in them. Learn to be likeable because nobody opens their heart to a brick wall.
Expect God to put you in difficult relationships until you learn to make it work. It can look like: A co-worker you don’t like, a mother-in-law you can’t divorce or a needy neighbor who has no friends. Your home is with the people now; make it work.
At first, it’s tough, but I promise, His grace will come! You’ll know you’ve arrived when it’s easy to love the unlovely.
You Were God’s Mouth—Now, You’re His Hands
“Your kingdom come; Your will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10).
Each of the fivefold ministries brings heaven down to earth in its unique way. If the prophet is God’s mouthpiece, the pastor is His hands and feet. As you shift from prophet to pastor, you become a master at creating community. Prophet, you always craved a sense of belonging. You wanted to fit in but never could. Now, you have the anointing to provide for others what you always desired for yourself.
You have the best of both worlds. You have the anointing of a prophet to see God’s blueprint and to birth it in the Spirit. And you have the pastoral ability to organize that blueprint on earth.
The shift is turbulent at first, but the results are worth it. By the end of your process, you become a leader who knows who you are and stands at peace, one who can enjoy the gift of relationships with God’s people and give 100%.
Apostles Craig and Colette Toach go even deeper into this subject. Listen to this podcast for more on what to expect: When a Prophet Becomes a Pastor. {eoa}
Chaifa Berry is a prophet in the NextGen Prophets team under Apostles Craig and Colette Toach of Toach Ministries International. She and her husband, Nathan, have trained fivefold ministry leaders for the last decade. She is the armorbearer to Apostle Craig Toach and is dedicated to raising the next generation of prophets. Follow her, and Apostles Craig and Colette Toach’s team of NextGen Prophets, at: nextgenprophets.org.
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