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Transition (Part 2)
Last week I was talking about the church of Acts and the transition they were going through. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, the disciples took on the task of starting the church. It was growing in number daily and miracle after miracle was being performed. When everything seemed to be going great, they began to be persecuted. The church was scattered, but this was God’s design to get the gospel spread throughout the earth.
Transition is tough. I’ve had a few moves in my life. I’ve went from Raton, New Mexico to Tulsa, Oklahoma, back to Raton then finally here to Houston, Texas. I can remember feeling God’s hand in all of those moves. Just recently I had a different transition, though. At the time I didn’t know if it was God moving me or if I was moving on my own rationale.
When I moved to Houston I knew where I wanted to go to church. I had gone to Victory Outreach back home, so I was excited to be able to find one in Houston, too. I love the ministry. Pastor Sonny Arguinzoni is a great man of God and I still consider myself to be part of V.O. even though I’m not going to a Victory Outreach right now.
I spent eight years at Victory Outreach Houston and I am grateful for the opportunity to serve and be used by God at that church. I grew in so many areas and I’m blessed to have met so many wonderful people that I still call my friends. There were many reasons I had to leave, but this isn’t the place to air them out. I pray God continues to use the Houston church and I really have no hard feelings against anyone there.
God was pushing me out. My stubborn self wanted to stay there and make things work because I do love the ministry, but God was taking me in a different direction. You can only stay where you’re not wanted for so long. I hurt so bad. I cried out in prayer, “God why?” Man may let you down. People may desert you in your wilderness, but God is a God that will never leave you nor forsake you.
I had a really hard time finding where to go from there. I was already transitioning to married life with my beautiful wife Priscilla, and on top of that I was looking for a new church. We visited a few different ministries around the Houston area, but God kept drawing us back to The Fellowship of The Woodlands. I hesitated for a long time about deciding to make that my new church home because I didn’t want to go to a big church. Also, some of my family had started attending another church. As much as I wanted to go with them and find a church with them, it just wasn’t where God was calling me.
Looking back, I see now that this was God’s perfect plan for my life. I’ve really enjoyed my new church and have really grown from the whole experience. I think it brought my wife and I closer together as we had to venture out on our own to find God’s place for us. We only had each other to rely on and we had to trust God would lead us to where we needed to be. We are involved with a Small Group in our church now and it has really been a great experience to fellowship and learn about God with new people.
Transition can be a tough process. I spent many nights praying and asking God for direction. At times I felt like I made the wrong choice. At times I felt like I just wasn’t hearing clear from God anymore. In retrospect, I see that God was going ahead of me and making the crooked path straight. While I was in the midst of transition, nothing made sense to me, but all along He was guiding my steps.
Sometimes you have to give up something you really care about to move to that next level. Sometimes you have to take a step back before you can take a step forward. Life has its moments where you have to make those tough, tough decisions. It’s in those times where you have to put your complete trust in God and rely on Him to help you make that right choice.
You might wrestle with God like Jacob or run away from that place you’re supposed to be like Jonah. You might be overconfident like Peter or may even doubt like Thomas. You may be hiding in the cave like David or try to do it your own way like Abraham. In the midst of transition in all of these men’s lives, they had to put down their own agendas and come to a place where they put their total faith in God. It was then that God showed up and led them to where they needed to be.
God doesn’t make mistakes. We might, but He never does. Whatever transition you may be in right now, just know that God is going to work it out for His glory. Sometimes we need to just humbly accept where God is moving us. It might not always be to where we WANT to be or where we THOUGHT we would be, but God always takes us to where we NEED to be.
- geno
www.PutHimFirst.com
HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AND THIS SUNDAY….…HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY TO ALL THE PHF MOMS OUT THERE!!!!!
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