do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians‬ ‭4:6-7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The has been one of my scriptures for years, especially the last year a half. God had begun to give us a different view of what He is calling us in to.

My wife and I have been part of a local church for the past twenty-plus years. We have been faithfully serving God in almost every areas in the church. We have been on the financial board, leadership, children’s ministry, youth pastor, director over the sound system and occasionally leading the church while the senior pastors were on overseas missions trips.

We love the local church and everyone in it, so when we began hearing God say it time to leave our church we rejected it.

God’s Holy discomfort

My wife would hear about leaving during her prayer time and she would share it with me, and I would talk her out of it, then another time it would be me bringing it up. This happens for months and months, both of us talking the other out of the move. We started to wonder if this was truly from God or our selves.

Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellers there is safety.

Proverbs 11:14 KJV

We were concern about bringing this to our pastors we did not what to hurt them if it was or was not God. We decided to get some council with our regional leader, so we made an appointment. We had two meetings with us over a three month period. During the second conversation, he thought we should get some heart healing ministry to make sure it was not out of any offense with our church or pastors.

We decide would be good. We made an appointment with a couple on the other side of the state. Our biggest factor in selecting this couple was to be far removed for anyone that knew our pastors. At this point, our current pastors knew we were getting ministry by the direction of our regional leader. I knew that some of my hurts were with former pastors and I did not want the ministers to account any of my hurts to my current pastors. We just wanted to cover our current pastors and former pastors.

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

1 Peter 2:4 ESV

This part of the process took months from finding them, setting the meeting, filling the questionary and having the healing appointment. Meanwhile, we were getting more and more uncomfortable, not from anyone thing or person but discomfort from God.

Up to this point, we have been in this process for over a year, and there is more process coming. We worked through our ungodly beliefs for the next month, continuing to pray for God’s direction, for the local church and pastors.

God shows us it was time to talk fully with our pastors. We needed to let them know where our hearts were at and the hurts we were feeling. This was a hard meeting because we love them. There was repentance for both sides with many tears. My wife and I discussed that we would follow the holy spirit on when or if we would ask to be released at this meeting. We made such progress in our conversation we both decided not the ask at this time.

Our relationship was so much better with them, that we were wondering if we were to stay. We knew we needed to wait until after a scheduled mission trip that was to happen the following month. One of the senior leaders was going to be out of the country leaving the other there to handle the church. We believe God wanted to stay to help them. We had our daughter’s wedding at the end of the month.

Now we are in the middle of December and the holidays are upon us. God directed us to wait until after the holidays, I wanted to leave by the end of the year. Now it is a week into January we just came back from a conference and we both felt it was time. I quickly asked to meet them before either of us would back off. We were meeting at a restaurant but we were not sure if that was the pace to ask to release.

The conversation at the table was one of the best times of connecting we had with them in a long time. We share our hearts for what God had for us and for them. This all led to me asking to be released from the church. With a loving and heavy hearth they agreed and blessed and released us the next Sunday during service.

The process was over and another process begins.

The church

We have a great respect and love for our pastors and the local church we just left. We know the word of God and it states that “we are to gather together”. We are not just hopping from church to church, we are on a journey like Abraham leaving my father’s house and going until God shows us our land.

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭10:24-25‬ ‭ESV‬‬

We have weekly fellowship with three different organizations, ministry to young people at Battleground skate church, accountability with a pastor’s prayer group, and fellowship at a home Bible study. We are seeking God for what we are to be doing long term, we have a heart for seeking churches coming together in unity for community events.

APPLICATION

• Stay planted where you are until God shows you what you are to do.
• Consistently seek God to keep your heart whole.
• Stay in the process, God will award you and everyone within the process.