Go to the Land I Will Show You
I have been the Executive Pastor. I was the Executive Pastor at JaxNaz Church for a month shy of ten years. I worked my last day a couple weeks ago, took a week to rest and start preparing for my new assignment, then formally said goodbye to my church. In the meantime, the transition has been filled with moments that make me think of Abraham.
When God called Abraham (still known as Abram at the time), He said, “Go to the land I will show you.” He didn’t specify the city, country, route, or anything. He just said, “go” and Abram went. Along the way, God revealed everything Abram needed to know, but the first step in that journey required a huge amount of faith.
That’s what it’s been like for the Haldanes. God said, “Take a step forward in faith. Go to the land I will show you,” and He revealed more as we continued on the journey. I’ve learned enough through this process to write a book, but this isn’t a chapter. It’s a post. So, here’s one little nugget for my Para family.
Going to the land God will show you takes some time.
Well, duh, right? In the week between saying goodbye to JaxNaz and beginning my new assignment as Lead Pastor in Eaton Rapids, Michigan, I kept saying “we” about the church I just left and “they” about the church I was about to join. I still feel a connection and belonging to JaxNaz. Participation in the mission and vision - things I helped build and communicate. Yet, that is not my home anymore.
Conversely, my new home doesn’t feel like home yet because I haven’t moved in. We haven’t relocated our literal home, I haven’t moved into my office, and I haven’t preached my first sermon. Yet, that’s the land God has shown me. It will feel like home soon enough.
It doesn’t have to feel like a switch-flipping moment. I can release my old church family with gratitude and fondness as I embrace my new church family with the same feelings. That’s true for you, too, in whatever new adventure God calls you toward. Allow yourself some space to transition in a healthy way. God gave us a lot of big stuff at once. We took the new assignment, told the staff days later, and told the church days after that. My wife started a new job while we planned our transitions out of JaxNaz (she worked there, too). Then, we sent our daughter to camp and a national youth conference, said goodbye formally, went to Family Camp (where she worked and I played drums all week). We will be installed in a couple days, then I am speaking at a camp for a week.
So, when people ask if we’re packed up or if we’ve started moving, we just say “nope.” We will…when it’s the right time. We’re not rushing it. It’s been a whirlwind for a couple months and we don’t need to make it crazier. God is faithfully leading us into the ministry, the home, the relationships, the rhythms, and the life He will show us.
We’ve taken those first few steps in faith…and we’re taking one more step at a time…in faith…knowing we can trust in what we hope for and have confidence in what we cannot see. This is what it’s like to “go to the land I will show you.”