In 1962 Bo Belinsky was a rookie pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels, and made history by pitching a no hitter… the first in history by a rookie in the west. He was the toast of the town… for a year… Within a couple of years however he was again in the newspaper, and I still remember the wording of the terse yet clever headline announcing his probable trade from the Angels for his woeful underperformance… it read “BO TO GO YES NO YES NO!” It underscored the uncertainty of the moment.
Fast forward to 1982. I was a 31 year old church planter that was living out my dream (and God’s call) in launching and Pastoring a thriving ministry in northern Utah. In the midst of God’s blessing, I was struggling with the same uncertainty that marked the end of Bo Belinsky’s career in Los Angeles… only the name was different. “Ron to go yes no yes no?” The question weighed heavily on my heart and mind, though after careful soul searching, I was aware of no known sin in my life… on the contrary, there was much spiritual fruit being harvested for God’s glory.
What was wrong? I slipped away for a day of prayer and fasting, and at the end of my time I had the answer, and the answer was… nothing was wrong. It was time to go.
It was my first experience with leaving. Until that point in my life, I had always been focused on going… to Bible School… to summer ministries… to the mission field. Now it was time to leave, and leaving was very hard!
Looking back at that important juncture in my ministry and marriage (it was very difficult for my wife Wanda, as well), I observed two important things that helped me in future ‘leaving moments’ as well as advising fellow servants facing similar questions:
First, God does not always call us to finish what we start. He calls us to be faithful… faithful to His calling, and faithful to His leading. I had assumed that God would allow me to take the church to a certain point (a point imagined in MY mind) before He would lead me elsewhere. I was wrong. I fought the timing of my departure for several frustrating months before surrendering. MEMO TO ME: Do not allow my expectations or presuppositions to skew my sense of God’s timing or God’s will. I am very, very dispensable. I am very, very replaceable.
The second, and perhaps the most important issue, centered on something that I had not noticed had gone missing in my life: My joy in ministry went AWOL! I explained it away by reasoning that I had been very busy, or I was tired. The joy spoken of in Psalm 16:11 simply was not there. Though I loved my congregation, the joy was not there. Though I loved the ministry, the joy was not there. Though I loved God, the joy was not there.
I came to realize there is a great joy visited on our hearts when we surrender unconditionally to the leading of God… AWAY from that which we loved and sacrificed for.
We left the people we loved in the fall of 1982. We followed God’s leading to plant another church in a community in southern Utah where there was no Bible believing church. We left a church that was thriving for a community that had nothing… and the joy returned! We found people we loved in our new community. God quickly provided a wonderful, godly, Bible teaching pastor to replace me at my previous ministry. He is a close friend to this day.
Be careful to investigate the difference between your expectations and God’s leading. Pay attention to your joy (or the absence of it). This is where I found the answer to the question… should I go, yes no yes no?
by Rev. Ron Thompson, Executive Director, Tentmaker Bible Mission
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