God’s heart aches with sorrow because it is at this stage of communion that He loses the majority of His children. At this point, they choose to stop and not go further. It is at this level that many servants get lost, regress, or stagnate in their relationship with God. At this stage, the enemy deploys all his tricks to prevent the servant from accessing the next dimension of their relationship with God. Temptations multiply, distractions intensify, and obstacles seem insurmountable.

This is a critical moment where the servant must double their vigilance, keep their eyes fixed on Christ, and persist in the constant pursuit of deeper communion with God. Some illustrations from the Word of God, such as the one from Luke 10:38-42, can help us better understand the servant’s relationship.

“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’ ‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’” (Luke 10:38-42)

Martha embodies the servant’s relationship. When Jesus enters the house, she becomes active in organizing and preparing a perfect meal, acting as any servant would. She focuses on what she considers essential. What she does is not bad in itself; it is dictated by her culture, the norms of the time, and the teachings she received from childhood. Martha’s dedication to service is undeniable.

However, Jesus seems unresponsive to all her efforts. Sadly, Jesus notices that his servant Martha has fallen into the trap of the servant relationship without even realizing it. Like Martha, many people at this stage become so absorbed in ministry activities that they forget Jesus’ very presence. They are too busy exerting their efforts to advance the Kingdom of God. The longer one remains in the servant relationship without aspiring for more with God, the more they risk falling into the trap of service instead of walking in communion with God.

What Marthas do is not inherently bad, but it simply does not represent divine perfection. The enemy seeks to keep them in the servant relationship, knowing that at this stage, if the servant progresses, the damage inflicted on Satan’s kingdom will be incalculable. This is why the enemy deploys all sorts of schemes and seductions to stifle the thirst for God. This is how many gradually cease to grow spiritually without even realizing it.

The enemy constantly strives to hold them at this level, where their impact does not reach the full potential that God has in store for them. In the eyes of men, their works, books, sermons, and churches are true successes and models to follow, but God does not see them in the same way. For others, it is the commitment to God’s service, the gifts to God’s work, and the discipline in prayer that are exemplary.

This is why many ministries, servants of God, and Christians start strongly in glory, then, at some point, the glory that accompanied their ministry seems to diminish, and they cannot really explain what happened.

Once, they read the Bible for the simple pleasure of knowing God, and prayer was a daily and continuous conversation with God. But a certain lukewarmness gradually settled in despite their continued activities. Some had a once-flourishing ministry, accompanied by signs, wonders, and souls regularly brought to salvation. But, after a while, this ministry begins to stagnate day by day, eventually dying out.

If nothing is done at this stage, the decline will continue until the total disappearance of the ministry or until they regress to the transactional relationship level. This is where the danger lies for everyone, as returning to the former glory level demands enormous sacrifices and a lot of humility before God. This process also requires a real awareness. If, at this stage, the servant does not clothe themselves in humility, the enemy will blind them, preventing them from seeing the reality of things. The servant will continue to blame everyone except themselves for what is happening.

When humility no longer guides the heart, pride takes root and opens the door to all sorts of evils that the servant did not know before: jealousy, envy, rivalry. This is exactly what happened to Saul, the first king of Israel. He had started well with God, but at some point, he slipped and drifted away from Him. Instead of returning to God, his heart hardened. He was filled with jealousy, a spirit of rivalry, and he eventually became a murderer…

This text is an excerpt from the book “GIVE YOURSELF COMPLETELY TO GOD!” written by OMER KABUYA.

We invite you to read the following article, “DISCIPLINE YOURSELF TO NOT DEVIATE.”