6 Stages Of A Call Of A Change AgentSample

Stage 3: Isolation

Stage three often leads us into isolation. Joseph was isolated from his family and all that he knew. David retreated to the Cave of Adullam to flee King Saul. The Apostle John was banished to the island of Patmos where he wrote the Book of Revelation. God turns messes into messages and messengers in the isolation stage of the call of God to our larger story.

This stage can also be described as the desert stage. When the Israelites were freed from slavery, they had to pass through the desert. The word desert comes from a Hebrew word midbaar, which means “to speak.” Hosea 2:14 tell us, “Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her.” God used the mess of the cave to turn David into one of our greatest messengers, who wrote much of the Psalms, which have comforted millions of people over the centuries.

We learn the lessons from tears he shed in these times, and they are a spring from which we deeply drink: “As they pass through the Valley of Baka (weeping), they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion” (Psalm 84:6–7). We realize that it is only the Lord who can illumine our path during these dark times: “You, Lord, are my lamp; the Lord turns my darkness into light” (2 Samuel 22:29).

If God calls us into darkness in order to enter his presence, then that darkness will become an entry to new levels of relationship with a God who longs for fellowship with us. God was testing David’s mettle and preparing him for a new chapter in his life. God is calling forth his sons and daughters to step into their destinies: “For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed” (Romans 8:19).