Impossible situation

[Pal Handy]

you will be glad to know i was offered a job today, just in time basically. I did have certainty about what i was doing but stepping out in faith does cause anxiety and stress for me at times. Im growing in my faith all the time and would have valued some more encouraging comments from this site. The first 2 comments on this thread were very dismissive and not encouraging at all. Another valuable lesson ive learnt from this post is that i won't seek advice from this site again. The only post i found relevant and helpful was from aiki, so thanks for that

So is the new job your fulltime ministry that God was calling you to?

 

[mjcecomc]

ha no i secured a temporary position for the next 12 months. A position that is far less intensive than my previous position as the CEO of an organisation. I was looking for a position like this to give me the time to explore a possible calling to ministry. I feel like im being obedient and not sure where this will lead but im taking steps in faith that i believe God has asked me to take without knowing completely how the journey will unfold

 

[Pastor Glenn]

God will never lead you where his grace cannot keep you.

Lets connect my brother.

Pastor Glenn

 

[Pal Handy]

ha no i secured a temporary position for the next 12 months. A position that is far less intensive than my previous position as the CEO of an organisation. I was looking for a position like this to give me the time to explore a possible calling to ministry. I feel like im being obedient and not sure where this will lead but im taking steps in faith that i believe God has asked me to take without knowing completely how the journey will unfold

Has God called you into full time ministry?
Do you know what that would be?
Preaching, teaching, evangelist, pastor or missionary or something else?

Are you at peace with your decision?

I am not trying to discourage you but I am asking that you examine
your heart and your decisions to ensure that it is God that is leading
and not you running out ahead of Him with your ideas.

Evidently you wanted to leave your old position or else you would still be there.

Are you being brutally honest with yourself?

God works with our hearts as we are not robots and yet God asks us
to submit our plans from our hearts to Him so that He can order our footsteps.

Evidently your heart is leading you into fulltime ministry but does that
mean that God has called you into full time ministry?

Part of this walk with God is our willingness to put our hearts desires,
our dreams and our visions into God's hands and allow Him the final word,
even if He allows our dreams to die so that He can give us something better.

Anyway, you have opened a new chapter in your life so offer it to the Lord and place
all your desires, plans and future into His hands and be willing to do whatever He wants
you to do and I know it will work out.

Have you ever read Absolute Surrender by Andrew Murray?
This is a book that all believers should read as it defines very clearly
where God is leading us in this walk with Him in Christ.

Keep us posted...

Love, peace and joy...

 

[mjcecomc]

im only doing what god has asked me to do so far! I am looking into the possibility of becoming a pastor yes! I am completely at peace with my decision and where im at. Fortunately, in my church there is a lengthy discernment process so im accountable to various people on this journey. As i said, my previous job was very intense and I need the freedom from that to go to the next stage of the discernment process. My point to some of the people who posted here is that sometimes we are required to take risks to follow Jesus and there isnt always a certainty about where those decisions will lead. Those moments can be uncomfortable and i found this to be a time when my faith has been stretched. I had an overwhelming peace during each part of the process, but simply came here to look for some encouragement on what i think has been and is still a faith journey

 

[Pal Handy]

im only doing what god has asked me to do so far! I am looking into the possibility of becoming a pastor yes! I am completely at peace with my decision and where im at. Fortunately, in my church there is a lengthy discernment process so im accountable to various people on this journey. As i said, my previous job was very intense and I need the freedom from that to go to the next stage of the discernment process. My point to some of the people who posted here is that sometimes we are required to take risks to follow Jesus and there isnt always a certainty about where those decisions will lead. Those moments can be uncomfortable and i found this to be a time when my faith has been stretched. I had an overwhelming peace during each part of the process, but simply came here to look for some encouragement on what i think has been and is still a faith journey

You have to understand that when you asked for advice, you gave very little information and
the more you reveal, the better your choice appears.

Your title declared "Impossible Situation" and you posted that you quit a good paying job, in faith,
that God was in your quitting without any real plan, purpose or job but to "see" what God
had for you (but now you reveal your church connection) so all the heavy handedness was brought
down on you for what you revealed here in a very limited scope without the whole truth of your
situation being given.

The more I hear the better I feel about your choice as I see that you are
not alone in this but have the backing of your church and pastors.

Don't get upset as the people here are only human and our wisdom
is based upon the facts that are given just as it would be in any situation in which a
person seeks wise counsel from others...

Our fault is jumping to conclusions without taking the time
to ask a person for more details before giving advice...

It is good to know that God's peace was with you as His peace
should be a guiding beacon for your life and the choices you make.

 

[Pal Handy]

Ps Consider this forum good training for any would be Pastor
as it is not easy to hang in there when you are misjudge,
misunderstood and falsely accused by those who don't have
all the facts....

Hang in there.....

 

[ezeric]

I praise the LORD you got yourself a job - all good things are from HIM! James 1:17
You sure sound much better also!

For the record, now that I know more of the 'facts', I still would NOT change anything I felt lead to share in my earlier post.

Now, I would go to your new job and love/serve them as the LORD directs you, as you don't need a chapel to reach and love the lost. (but you knew that already)...

Bless you brother, as you turn a new page in your life.

-eric

 

[mjcecomc]

sure i understand that, but there was very little attempt to understand my situation! When somebody in a stressed state like i obviously was, i would suggest that people seek understanding in an empathetic way, not respond in such an arrogant and dismissive way as the first 2 posters. There was a a rush to judgement and criticism without even the faintest attempt to understand my situation. Im sorry but im not giving way on this, those responses were simply not appropriate for a page describing itself as Christian advice. I will however forgive, forget and move on with my life but for the benefit of others posting here i would like this to be taken note of

 

[mjcecomc]

And PalHandy i do thank you for your response above, i appreciate the humility in your response

 

[DiscipleHeLovesToo]

sure i understand that, but there was very little attempt to understand my situation! When somebody in a stressed state like i obviously was, i would suggest that people seek understanding in an empathetic way, not respond in such an arrogant and dismissive way as the first 2 posters. There was a a rush to judgement and criticism without even the faintest attempt to understand my situation. Im sorry but im not giving way on this, those responses were simply not appropriate for a page describing itself as Christian advice. I will however forgive, forget and move on with my life but for the benefit of others posting here i would like this to be taken note of

that's the problem with the printed word, it can always be interpreted in at least two different ways; i can see that both the initial responses were made with the intent of helping you, and i can also see how you might interpret them in the way you did. thank God that He looks at the heart, is long suffering, and full of mercy and grace - may we always strive to be like Him.

perhaps He sent you here to minister to someone else, rather than be ministered to; in the Kingdom of God you only get to keep the things you give away in selfless love. thank God that we all have these words of the Master to comfort us:

Joh 8:11 KJV
(11) ...Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

 

[theophilus40]

Another valuable lesson ive learnt from this post is that i won't seek advice from this site again.

I hope you will stay so you can give advice to others. The Bible says that sometimes we suffer afflictions so we will be qualified to help others who are suffering the same thing.

 

[CounselorForChrist]

Another valuable lesson ive learnt from this post is that i won't seek advice from this site again.

So you want encouragement on something that many people mess up on. Which is thinking God told them something. But any other advice is just being mean? You realize being a christian does mean accepting sometimes we are wrong right? Going by your responses your feeling some anger towards those who are simply trying to give you advice. This to me implies maybe conviction on your end but you don't want to accept it. Anyways I'm out of this thread. You don't want advice, you want to hear only agreeable answers.

 

[mjcecomc]

Not true! Maybe its you who doesn't want to admit that i was given poor and weak advice. As a christian, you are supposed to give advice in a way that encourages and builds up. Even if its critical, it can be given in a way that is not judgemental, flippant or dismissive. Im not sure why you find that concept so difficult to understand, hopefully your heart will be softened

 

[mjcecomc]

and do you not think that god can lead and guide people to make certain decisions, even if they do seem risky

 

[DiscipleHeLovesToo]

OP, you admit that you don't have all the answers, but fault others who are trying to help you for this same shortcoming; you expect people to operate in love toward you without judgment and yet you judge them to be ungodly in their responses.

perhaps God sent you here to help you to realize that you are just like the people you judge, in the same way that those who judge you are like you. i'll tell you what my experience has been over decades - that God will send to you people who have the same problems you do - and as He ministers to each of you through the other, both will be ministered to by Him at the same time. we only hate the things in others that we despise about ourselves; anyone can be merciful to one who has a fault that they themselves do not share - but what we have judged ourselves to be guilty of are the things that we will judge others who share the same faults to be guilty of - unless we let the mercy, love and l o n g suffering of God flow through us

Rom 2:1 KJV
(1) Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.

 

[Serendipity..]

So i stepped down from my job about a month ago without another job to go. I have been leading a Christian charity (not for profit) for 3 years but felt God calling me out of this role. Myself and my wife thought God was telling us to take some time out from this busy role to explore a possible calling to full time ministry. We felt i should try to get another temporary job in the meantime so we could keep paying the bills.

A month later i have found it impossible to find a temporary job. I had some interviews before i left the previous CEO position, but didnt get them. I have interviews since leaving and not got those jobs either. We feel God has led us into an impossible situation as our savings are starting to run down and we need some income to at least pay the bills. I have a few possibilities for jobs on the horizon, but this could take weeks to materialise and we need some income before then. we have taken a step of faith but are currently feeling anxious and quite fearful of where God has led us. We know that there are many examples in the bible of god showing up to lead his people out of impossible circumstances. anyone ever been in a predicament like this. We need some encouragement

I have not been in that predicament but have watched those that live by faith. I watched a christian organisation called YWAM who is dedicated to spreading the gospel via voluntary labour that relies on God's provision.
If they wanted it They asked god and it came.
They needed a window for their building or a shipping container, they as group prayed and within days it arrived.
If your doing something for God to advance Jesus legacy expect results from prayer. Try it! God does provide if you do things for the right reason. hundreds of them live by faith and all their needs are met fianncially

 

[Criada]

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This thread is closed.
It appears that the OP's situation has been resolved.
Please remember this is NOT a debate forum.
Thank you.
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