Suddenly Moments: God’s Seasons of Preparation, Testing, and Lifting

The Bible says, “And suddenly the Holy Spirit filled the place where they were.” They had been waiting for His manifestation for many days, but suddenly He came. God, when He changes a man’s life, He does it in a suddenly moment. You see this with Joseph: he was a prisoner one day, and suddenly he became the Prime Minister (Genesis 41:14, 40–41). There is a suddenly aspect to God’s manifestations.

But what many people do not want to hear is that before the manifestation, there is always training. Before the manifestation, there is always testing. Many people, because they are ignorant of God’s tests for promotion, are not able to soldier through or go through the process in a way that allows them to be promoted.

The Bible speaks about how God weighs men. What are the weights of destiny? In an Allegory we can say When God is about to release a blessing in a person’s life, there is a spiritual scale where God puts the things He wants to release on one side, and He puts you on the other. If the scales balance, then you gain access to the promise. What causes the scales to balance is character. It is personality. It is attitude. It is those hidden attributes that many people never think are key. That is why the Bible says beauty is not about outward adornment, but about the inward man (1 Peter 3:3–4). Whenever God weighs a person, what He is looking for is the inward work of His Spirit in your life—the inward work of His anointing, His grace, and His Word.

The disciples were prepared before their suddenly. Joseph was prepared before his suddenly. Many people want the suddenly moment, but they do not want the weighing moment. You are weighed before promotion comes. But what is strange is that God does not test people the way they assume He does. That is why the Bible says, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God” (James 1:13). God does not test people with evil. God uses His Word as the standard of measurement because there is something He wants to produce in you.

That is why the Bible says, “When men are cast down, thou shalt say, There is lifting up” (Job 22:29). There must be agreement with God’s Word for lifting to come. The suddenly moment happens when someone has matured, grown, and developed. That is why the Bible says that in a great house there are many vessels—some unto honor and some unto dishonor—and if a man purges himself of these things, he becomes a vessel unto honor (2 Timothy 2:20–21). Many people want the season of manifestation, but many are not prepared for the season of training.

There is a divine order: first preparation, then testing, then promotion. The testing stage is the weighing stage. But many people think that once they enter the manifestation stage, that is the end. No. A person can be manifested at one level while God is still preparing them for another. You may enter a season of manifestation as a counselor in a local district, yet God may be shaping you for something higher. Then again comes preparation, testing, and manifestation until the fullness of the promise is reached. That is why the Bible says, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man… but God is faithful… to make a way of escape” (1 Corinthians 10:13). God has a balancing system that allows you to grow into the person you were called to be.

Growth is continuous. God does not want you to settle where you think you have accomplished everything. Many people never even reach manifestation because they refuse to yield in preparation. They fail in testing, and so they keep walking in cycles without ever stepping into their suddenly.

Sometimes God leads people to places that carry what they are supposed to become, so that through training under that atmosphere they are shaped for promotion. But many are not humble enough to yield to the training that is key to their next level. Scripture says God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). Grace empowers you to become what God designed you to be.

So the question remains: which season are you in? Preparation, testing, or manifestation? Many people want only manifestation, but the suddenly comes only to those who follow the process. I pray that you walk into your suddenly by yielding to every season God uses to prepare you for promotion. God bless you.