Knowing God's Will Through Transition
In seventeen years a family can put down a lot of roots in a community. In that amount of time you can watch your kids travel through the school years and transition into adults. In seventeen years you can build relationships with many people. And after seventeen years a community becomes home. That is what my family did in seventeen years in Franklin, Tennessee. And it was just a few years ago that I would have never dreamed that we transitioning to another community and another place of ministry…but God knew.
In my last Sunday at ClearView Baptist in Franklin, Tennessee, my last Sunday as a Worship Pastor I had the opportunity to say a few words before leading the congregation in one final song. Here is what I said, here is what I believe.
I have come to believe this: ‘knowing God’s will is the continual search for His will'
At certain places along the search journey God gives clear encouragement that you are in the right place, doing the right thing…but staying in His will is the continual search for 'what’s next?'...
Seventeen years ago we knew it was the right thing to come and join the ministry at ClearView…a place where God was at work, a place He was inviting us to.
And through these years of service we were encouraged many, many, times that this is where God wanted us.
But we kept searching and preparing for what might be next.
The ‘next’ place of God’s will was often how we led the ministries here through changes, invested in our community, reached out to our neighbors, or various other steps.
For a time now we have sensed that our time at ClearView was coming to an end. We sensed that God was preparing and was going to lead us to a different place of ministry. A place where we could use the skills and experiences, that had been refined or collected here at ClearView.
God, in His timing, has done just that.
Although God has called us to a new place…invited us to a new place, where He is already at work…we will continue to search for His will... …how to invest in people …how to reach a community for Christ …how to lead a staff …and what will be the next step in this journey following His will for our lives.
Our prayer over the last few months is that we would be aligned and submissive to His will...
No matter where we go this will continue to be our prayer...
We hope that it will be your prayer also…that you will continually search for God’s will for your life and for this church.
We want to listen, be ready to listen, when God speaks. We want to be ready to stay or go.
We do and will continue to pray for ClearView.
Let’s all pray and ask God to show us His will…but in our asking let’s be willing to stop and listen to hear Him speak.
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