The Succession Story (Part Three) – A Second Season of Waiting

“Wait for the LORD; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the LORD.” Psalm 27:14

My successor had been identified. The Lord is faithful and good. As shared in the two blogs, I had a condition that I would not call my successor out of his employment situation and the man who came to dinner was employed.

So a second season of waiting began.

During this season of waiting, something interesting began to happen. Whenever this man who came to dinner and I met, he wanted to talk about preaching, ministry and what it was like to be a pastor. He began teaching and preaching God’s Word as a layman more and more at different venues. He began to take seminary classes to learn theology.

The Spirit of God was doing His work of preparation. As for me, I did nothing, but pray and wait.

Then in August of 2016, the man who came to dinner requested a meeting. As he shared, I discovered that he was between contracts and that his next contract had yet to be tendered. His employment had yet to be renewed by his employer and he was technically unemployed for 2017.

Complicating matters he also had multiple offers and opportunities within his chosen career path outside of his current employment. I asked him not to make any commitments without calling me first for counsel and prayer (which was not an unusual request). He agreed.

I then sought the Lord over what I should do. I had an agonizing moment over whether or not I should inform the man who came to dinner that I believed he was to be the next senior pastor of Evergreen SGV.

An agonizing moment happened on Sunday, July 26, 2016 from 9:30 AM through my time of preaching during second service. The message entitled, “Excuses, Excuses, Excuses” was about Moses giving God a host of excuses as to why he could not fulfill God’s call on his life.

I believed that the time had come to ask the man who came to dinner to consider becoming the next senior pastor of Evergreen SGV, but I was afraid of not being in God’s perfect timing regarding the matter. I did not want to make an error in timing.

I spoke to our Church Moderator for counsel during the 9:30 AM hour and he gave me his blessing with the caveat that it was up to me. I had a difficult time preaching a message about Moses giving God excuses for not obeying God’s call.

It set the stage for what was about to happen.