I've been at Hope NorthBranch serving as a volunteer worship leader for almost 4 years. Honestly, I didn't want to go to Hope NorthBranch in the first place. The church was looking for a worship leader to grow the music ministry and I was looking to purge additional responsibilities from my life at the time. So when the email hit my inbox, I immediately hit 'delete' and moved on with my day.
However, my wife was also included on the email. And lucky for Hope, my wife is an amazing, God-loving woman full of grace and wisdom. She simply has a big heart and wants to see Christ taken to the ends of the earth.
When she approached me about the idea, we agreed as a family that for a season we would help out the church in order to get them through the holidays. That was October 2006 and our season lasted a little longer than what we had originally anticipated.
Almost 4 years later, God begin stirring in us a desire to spread our wings a bit. And on Sunday, June 6th, while celebrating our 13th wedding anniversary, we felt the presence of the Lord release us from Hope NorthBranch. We felt God say, "It's okay. It's time to go."
That's a difficult pill to swallow letting go of something you think you built up. The church had grown from 125 people to over 900 at the latest Easter service. The music ministry grew from a handfull of people to over 40. But I didn't have anything to do with it. In all honesty, the Holy Spirit made all of that happen. All we can do as worshipers is acknowledge that and get out of the way of God.
We cannot control what is not ours to control. Hope NorthBranch is one of those things. So is the music ministry. So are our lives.
So when God said to let go of the music ministry and Hope NorthBranch, what choice do we have in the matter? When He has blessed you to leave and given you peace about it, all you can do is be obedient to his calling.
So we are stepping out in faith. Unsure of what lies ahead in the future. God was abundantly clear in Proverbs 16:1 that whatever plans we make, His will overrule ours. I love this paraphrase which reads: "Man loves to devise plans which reflect his heart's ambition; God however always does what He wishes regarding our lives."
Perhaps God will bring us back to Hope NorthBranch after a season of time. One things for sure, I am looking forward to worshiping with my family together. We've gone to church the past 6-8 years in 2 different cars at 2 different times. I am looking forward to worshiping as one body, one family in this next season that God has ordained.
