i want you to know that as many nights as you have spent crying about my leaving…i have spent in tears, too. my heart is broken, and in stepping aside from ghbc, i’m having family taken away from me. this situation is one that really hurts. the question you’re probably asking then is, “so why didn’t you choose to stay!?”
the answer to that is a hard one. the answer is because God called me to follow him. from the first day i said yes to Jesus, and asked him to be the Lord of my life, i knew i was saying yes to all the things he’d ask me to do from that point on, no matter how hard. following jesus isn’t easy, but it’s good.
And sometimes God asks us to do things that we don’t like or understand. He asked abraham to kill his own son to show that he would follow the Lord anywhere. maybe this isnt exactly the same…but i think it’s a lot the same. am i willing to obey God, even if it means giving up one of the most precious things i’ve ever experienced in the family at GHBC…?
if it means i get more Jesus, yes, i’ll make any trade for that, no matter how hard. i hope you will too.
but i guess i’m asking, “God, if you’re going to take away, what will you give me back?” and you’re probably asking that too. i know some of you have felt like a lot of people are abandoning you or leaving you behind recently. a lot of you want to know what God is doing in your life through this situation. I don’t know the answer to that exactly, but i know He is good, i know He is faithful, and i know He is there for you to cast your cares on, and i also know that He loves you. in fact, he promised that He’d never leave you or forsake you.
my prayer is that in your sadness, you turn to the Lord to be what he promised he would be…the God of all comfort.
my prayer is that in your heartbreak, you’d entrust your heart to God.
i am being asked to give you all up as i try to obey God. but i’m doing my best to lay you at the feet of the Good Shepherd, who will care for you perfectly.
i love you kiddos. i’m not leaving cause i’m mad or frustrated or sick of you all. far from it. my love for you has never been stronger. instead, i’m leaving cause God needs me somewhere else…so he’ll provide the right people here…i promise.
know that you are loved! you are loved by me more than words can express…but infinitely more so by a God who created you in His image and who has your name engraved on His palm.
DB (Matthew 6:33 – seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and then everything else will be added onto you.)
