Make Room for Growth

Making Room for the Harvest

There are moments in ministry that stay with you forever. Not because they were spectacular. Not because thousands came to Christ. But because God quietly taught you a lesson that would shape how you would lead for years to come. One of those moments happened during the early days of our church revitalization.

I still remember walking into the old church building. The basement carried the unmistakable smell of damp paper and years of neglect. It wasn't just old; it felt forgotten. The children's classrooms had long since stopped being classrooms. What had once echoed with laughter, Bible stories, crafts, and little feet running down the hallway had slowly become storage rooms. Every corner was packed with boxes, broken furniture, outdated curriculum, decorations no one remembered, and relics from ministries that had ended decades earlier.

The piles were stacked so high you couldn't even see the back walls. Looking around, I couldn't help but wonder what those rooms must have looked like when they were full of life. I imagined children laughing. Parents dropping off their sons and daughters. Teachers opening God's Word. Instead, mice had become the primary occupants. As I stood there, one thought wouldn't leave my mind: If we expect God to bring children again, shouldn't we prepare a place for them?

The Board Meeting

At one of our board meetings, I suggested we do a major cleanout. To me it seemed obvious. To everyone else, it sounded almost offensive. With the exception of one newer board member, every face around the table changed immediately. One person said, "There's a lot of good stuff down there. We might use it one day." I wasn't convinced. This became one of the few moments in my ministry where I genuinely became frustrated. I finally responded, "How dare we treat the house of the Lord like our personal storage unit. I know the church isn't the building, but generations of faithful people sacrificed to build this place, and we've allowed it to become a dumping ground."

Then I said something that changed the entire conversation. "We need to make room for the children who are coming." Someone actually laughed. Another board member replied, "We haven't had a new child come through these doors in ten years." At the time there were only three children connected to the church. My own two little kids, ages two and three. And one ten-year-old whose mom had been attending for years.

I looked around the table and said, "For the sake of my own children, I refuse to communicate that they don't matter enough for us to give them a clean, welcoming place to learn about Jesus." Then I made a commitment. "You have two weeks to take whatever you want. After that, if I have to pay for it myself, I'm hiring a junk removal company."

Preparing the Field

Looking back, I realize this wasn't really about junk; It was about faith. For two and a half years, that church had not seen a single new visitor. Humanly speaking, there was no evidence that children were coming. There was no growing nursery, no waiting list, no momentum, just empty rooms and declining attendance. But Scripture repeatedly teaches that God's people often prepare before they see. Noah built an ark before there was rain. The priests stepped into the Jordan before the waters parted (Joshua 3). The widow gathered empty jars before God multiplied the oil (2 Kings 4). The disciples organized the crowd before Jesus multiplied the loaves and fish (Mark 6). Faith doesn't wait until the miracle is visible. Faith prepares because God has spoken.

Paul reminds us,"So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth." (1 Corinthians 3:7) That became my prayer during those two weeks. "Lord, we can prepare the fields, but You are the Lord of the harvest. We can plant and water, but only You produce fruit."

Eventually, the board agreed to use church funds for the cleanup. My wife and I organized the classrooms; we painted, we cleaned, we arranged furniture, and when it was finished, I remember saying, "At least our children now have a place where they can come and learn about Jesus."

The Sunday I'll Never Forget

I still get emotional thinking about what happened next. The very first Sunday those classrooms were ready, two brand-new families walked through our doors. Together, they brought three children. For the first time in over ten years, new children attended Sunday school in that church. I don't believe God rewarded us because we cleaned a room. Nor do I believe ministry works like a vending machine where faithful actions automatically produce immediate results. But I do believe something Scripture consistently teaches: God delights in faith-filled obedience.

Hebrews tells us, "Without faith it is impossible to please Him." (Hebrews 11:6) Faith often looks like preparing for something only God can accomplish.

Make Room

Years have passed since that day. Those rooms have now been filled with children. They've hosted Sunday School, Alpha classes, prayer and discipleship. I've personally had the privilege of leading people to Jesus inside rooms that were once buried beneath piles of forgotten junk. Every time I walk into those classrooms, I'm reminded of a simple truth: We are called to make room for God to do His work. Sometimes the clutter isn't physical. Sometimes it's old traditions, old hurts, fear, comfort or low expectations. Sometimes we hold onto yesterday so tightly that we leave no room for what God wants to do tomorrow.

Isaiah's words ring as true today as ever: "Enlarge the place of your tent... do not hold back." God was asking Israel to prepare for growth before they could see it. That is still His invitation to His Church.

What Are You Making Room For?

Church revitalization isn't simply about better programs or cleaner buildings. It's about cultivating a heart that expects God to move again. Do your facilities reflect that expectation? Does your budget, calendar, leadership, prayers or conversations believe that God can move again? Are you preparing for the people you're asking God to send? Or are you simply preserving what has always been? We cannot produce revival. Only God can. We cannot manufacture growth. Only God gives the increase, but we can prepare the field. We can remove the obstacles. We can make room. Because faith doesn't merely pray for the harvest. Faith means getting the field ready.