During the changing of the new year, a lot of people make resolutions or make declarations of change for the upcoming year. We spend a lot of time talking about how we are entering a “New Season.” We decide that we are not going to continue doing the same things that we have been doing for the last year or years of our lives. I have not made resolutions for many years, but I always look at the new year with great expectation. I love how Facebook will send you all the things that you have written or shared over the years. Last year, on January 2nd, I wrote something on the lines of “Don’t allow the disappointments of a previous season to become your expectation of your next season.” I thought in the moment, “that was a good word!” I went about my day at work, and as I was driving home that afternoon, Holy Spirit spoke to me and simply said, “You are living in that post.” I didn’t have to ask, “what post?” I knew exactly which post He was talking about.
For some context, I had been walking through the most difficult time of my life leading up to that post last year. I had been walking through a very “dark night of the soul” season. I was questioning every part of my calling. The church that I was pastoring was really struggling to survive. I was really struggling to survive both spiritually and mentally. It was through this season of my life that God proved to me that He was able to keep me, and that His grace was sufficient, because I couldn’t keep myself during this season. There are so many more details that I am going to leave out for the moment, and I might reveal them in the future if Holy Spirit allows me to. At the close of 2022, I found myself walking out of this dark season and anticipating something very fresh and exciting for the future.
Things didn’t go exactly as planned. In March of 2023, I made the very hard decision to close our local church and fully submit to the call that I had been feeling for over 2 years. This was one of the hardest decisions that I had ever made in my life. I had always felt that the call on my life was more of an itinerant call rather than a pastoral call, but I was unable to fully submit to it. I remember hearing someone say, “the very thing that you are most scared to do is the very thing that you are called to do.” I can definitely agree with this statement for my life.
I have gone from disappointment to disappointment with a lot of my endeavors in ministry. I dealt very well with a lot of the disappointments but shutting down the church coupled with the 2 year “dark night” of the soul caused me to live in a place of deferred hope (Proverbs 13:12) which caused my heart to grow sick. I was living in the reality of the post that I had written just last year. The Hebrew word for deferred in this text means to put off to another or to put off for some distant future. I had accepted that God wanted to move for other people just not for me. The enemy cannot defeat you if he cannot deceive you, and I had allowed him to whisper his lies until I believed them.
I took a lot of time off in 2023 from pulpit ministry. My wife and I fully submitted to serving our apostle Ron Teal in the local work here in Cullman and travelling as much as possible with him as well. This has been a great time of healing and restoration that could not have come any other way besides sitting and serving our leader. It’s imperative that you find a spiritual father and mother and serve them with all diligence. They hold keys that will unlock your future in ways that you could never unlock by yourself. Apostle Ron gave me a word a couple of weeks ago about the door being opened and it was time for me to walk through it. He fully released us to step into all that Holy Spirit has in store for us this year and beyond.
For the first time in a long time, I am extremely excited to step into a new year and walk in obedience to what Holy Spirit has been leading us into for several years. It’s time to take the prophetic words that have been spoken over my life (that I have shelved for the most part) and walk out of deferred hope toward them and eat from the tree of life that springs up when our dreams are fulfilled. It’s time to dream again with the Lord! I plan on preaching more, writing more, making more YouTube videos, and travelling more this year than ever before!
I want to say thanks to my wife for always believing in me and supporting me through every transition in our 30 years together. I also want to say thanks to apostle Ron and Trisha Teal for their unwavering support and their willingness to walk with us through this difficult season. 2024 will be a year of open doors and open heavens, and we will see all that has been purposed for us to see this year! Let’s run well this season and see the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our God and His Christ!
Love You All!
John Purcell