When God builds your capacity

GREETINGS, beloved nation. Luke 1:80, “So the child grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel.” In the Bible, we come across many great men and women who fulfilled the plans and purposes of God in their lifetime. This is mostly because they aligned themselves with God’s plans and allowed God to prepare them so that they could fulfil their destinies.

God will always prepare us for what lies ahead and He will take His time to do so. He is never in a hurry until we are ready. A certain minister once said, “All people God uses significantly, He also prepares extensively. Few are willing to endure the greatness of God’s preparation.”

The problem we have with many believers or with human nature, is that we are impatient. We want things to happen quickly, here and there, without going through the process.

We want to stand at the pulpit fast, have our own ministry quickly and get married here and there, without necessary training and preparation. When God wants to use you, He will build your capacity. Capacity is the ability any human being can demonstrate to do something assigned to him or her.

God always wants to give us capacities that will enable us to achieve great things for Him and for His glory. In the book of Luke, we read about a great man named John the Baptist. The scriptures go to great lengths to tell us about his birth—how he was born to a God-fearing elderly couple who had been praying for a child for many years until, one day, an angel appeared to Zechariah the priest to tell him that God had heard their prayers for a child.

On his day of circumcision, on the eighth day, a prophecy was spoken about John by his father: “And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him.”
John’s destiny was to grow up and prepare the way for the coming Messiah and to be the first prophet in 400 years. Salvation was coming into the world and John would point people to Jesus Christ.

Then, in Luke 1:80, it says, “So the child grew and became strong in spirit and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel.” Some versions say “until the day he appeared publicly.”

This means he had to go through a process before the prophecy was fulfilled. John had to grow up to accomplish the plans that God had for his life. He had to become spiritually mature to live a life of faith. He had to become spiritually strong.

This is a process of growth where God builds your capacity. The Bible tells us that he was in the desert until the day of manifestation. The desert is a harsh environment, so John was not living a soft life. When God is preparing you and building your capacity, it is not easy, it is a difficult and uncomfortable season in a believer’s life.

You see, when God speaks a word over your life or ministry, He begins the journey of building your capacity. He will stretch you to your limits. That was the case with John: he became spiritually strong in the desert until the time came for him to appear. Unfortunately, some believers want to jump this process or shorten it and appear in ministry before the set time. They do not want to follow the law of the process.

Often, when a prophetic word is spoken over our lives, we want it to manifest immediately, without going through the season of preparation. God does not work that way. We read about Joseph in Genesis 37-47. In Genesis 37, Joseph, a favoured son of Jacob, dreams a dream that speaks of him becoming a ruler and his brothers bowing down to him. Joseph was destined to rule in Egypt, but he did not have the capacity to do so.

Soon after his dream, a life of hardship began. God had to build in him the capacity to govern and be an administrator. In Genesis 39, he is sold by his brothers and ends up in Potiphar’s house in Egypt, where he is made overseer over Potiphar’s household. He is then taken through the school of the Holy Spirit, where he becomes a slave and later a prisoner. This was his classroom where God was building his capacity.

His capacity to become an administrator over Egypt was being built as he was put in charge of the prisoners. The Bible does not specify exactly what this involved, but I am certain it included many issues of administration—people and resources in the prison. There was no way Joseph would have become a ruler over Egypt without the necessary training.

One thing about Joseph is that we do not hear him complaining or accusing God, asking why he is going through this hardship when he has a destiny to be a great leader. No, Joseph’s attitude was aligned with the will of God. He allowed himself to go through the process until the time of his season of appearing. He was kept hidden in prison while God was preparing him, just as John the Baptist was kept hidden in the desert until his season of appearing.

One time, King David was hidden in the Cave of Adullam and other discomforting places as God was preparing him. God will keep you hidden in the wilderness until the time to appear comes. This doesn’t mean He won’t be with you during those.

 

The Bible tells us in Genesis 39:2 that God was with Joseph during his trials. God will be there, but sometimes He will be silent. Silence, on its own, is God speaking. When God trains you, He will be silent for many reasons. That alone is a topic for another time.

When capacity is being built, it is a painful time where you are stretched, pruned, tried, and tested. God will deal with your character and will test your faith in Him.

King David was another great man we read about in the Bible who went through many hardships as God was training and preparing him to become a great king.

In 1 Samuel 16, David is first anointed king by Samuel because God had rejected Saul, the current king. What follows is a difficult period in David’s life, where he is hunted by Saul, who wants to kill him. In 1 Samuel 22, David had to hide in the Cave of Adullam with four hundred men who followed him there. He became their captain and these men were later known as mighty men under David’s leadership.

Why did David have to wait seven whole years before sitting on the throne as king, even though he had already been anointed? The reason he had to wait so long was part of God’s preparation. David had to be fully trained and strategically fit for the position. He had to be approved by both God and men. David had the heart to be king, but he also had to acquire the character to be a king.

Many people have been appointed by God, but they need time to be trained and to acquire the character. You don’t just become what you have been appointed to be; you also have to prove that you are fit for the appointment in order to be accepted by God and men. It is my prayer that, as believers, we allow ourselves to go through the process.

I pray that God may give you the sustaining grace during the seasons of preparation because, indeed, you will need to be sustained by the Holy Spirit during the times in the wilderness when God is building your capacity. I would like to invite you to receive Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour—believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that He is your Lord and Saviour, and you shall be saved. May God bless you all.

For feedback, please contact [email protected] or WhatsApp Number: 0772494647.