Transitions

I would like to tell you a story about two different moves that were made by a pastor. Move One…a pastor moves from Corpus Christi to Canyon Lake to begin a new ministry. The transition does not go so well. For starters, his house in Corpus Christi does not sell for a year. This causes quite the financial struggle. He is forced to make both a house note in Corpus and a lease payment at Canyon Lake. During this year all of his financial reserves are exhausted. To make matters worse, his wife, a school teacher, is unable to obtain a public school job and takes a huge pay cut to teach at a private school in San Marcos.

Move two…a pastor moves from Canyon Lake to Victoria. He puts his house on the market on a Monday and has receives an offer on it the following Sunday. Approximately 40 days after putting his house on the market, it has closed and turns out to be a rather profitable endeavor for the pastor. His wife has decided at their new ministry assignment that she will not work but be a stay at home mom which will allow her to be more involved in the ministry. In spite of her decision not to seek employment, a job falls in her lap that she cannot pass up. The transition from Canyon Lake to Victoria goes smoother than anyone could have imagined.

Question: which of these moves was of God? Answer: BOTH. Sometimes when God moves and works in our lives He takes care of all of the details up front leaving us very little to be concerned with. However, there are other times when God does not take care of all the details in advance, but asks us to depend on Him each step of the way. My point is simple, whether something is easy or difficult, challenges (or the lack there of) are no indication of God’s will. We must walk daily in His presence, leaning on Him and trusting Him for provision as we journey along.