Recently, Kevin East, President and CEO of The Mentoring Alliance, joined Jonathan Pitts on the Decisions podcast with insight on how to transition well in life and ministry. We hope this conversation equips and encourages you as you navigate change.
The winds of change… sometimes you just feel them coming.
Have you ever felt a discontentment growing within you?
You may not even know what you want to do or where you want to go, but you feel stuck and you sense that it may be time to make a change.
It can be scary because more often than not, this type of change involves more than just leaving a job. It’s leaving a community of people you have known. It’s leaving the place where you’ve grown and learned about leadership. It’s leaving the security blanket of all that’s familiar.
Here are three steps to take when you sense it may be time to go:
- Pray
If you’re sensing that God is about to do something, first and foremost, talk to Him and take time to listen. If and when you do make the move, you want to be able to say with confidence that you asked the Holy Spirit to guide you, open and close doors, and you sought His counsel above all others.
- Seek Wise Counsel
Talk to your spouse, family members, close friends, and seek counsel from mentors or leaders in your life. Sometimes, this even looks like hiring a consultant to help you navigate your calling and the conflicting feelings you’re experiencing.
- Step Out in Faith
Noah wasn’t just a man building a boat in the middle of a drought all those years ago. He gave us a wonderful example of what acting on our faith looks like. When you sense God’s leading and you’ve received wise counsel, trust God enough to walk in obedience.
Being a Christ follower requires faith because if we knew half of what God would ask of us, we would say things like, “I’m too big for this!” Or maybe, “This is too big for me!”
God knows exactly what He’s doing. And how beautiful and mysterious that He works His perfect plan out for you while at the same time working it out for your family, ministry, and the people you’re called to serve.
So often we’re simply unwilling to step out of our comfort zones because we want life to be easy
And when you’re unwilling to step out in faith, it’s hard to experience God’s faithfulness.
Once you experience the faithful, providential hand of God on your life and circumstances, you’re no longer afraid of what you can’t control or a decision that may or may not be made by the board of your organization.
God supplied everything you needed. Your faith grew stronger and so did your resolve to follow His lead.
You’re safe in His hands.
For more insight into trusting God in the midst of big transitions, listen to the Decisions Podcast episode Making the Decision to Leave with Kevin East.
+ More Insights from Dunham+Company: “What to Do… When You Don’t Know What to Do“