Ernest Smith

Now that we have told everyone we are heading to Denver, CO, I wanted to share some of the process of how we came to the conclusion that we were to plant a church.

Have you ever had a time where you had buyer’s remorse?  Maybe it was after you bought that car.  Maybe it was after you paid too much for something at a garage sale.  Maybe it was after taking that girl to the prom.   You know, that feeling you get deep down in your gut after you have made a decision that you might not be able to take back.   Well, I didn’t want that feeling after making this decision, so our process was long and arduous.

For over 3 years, I have been sensing a discontentment in my heart.  I didn’t know if that discontentment was with my job, where we were living or something else I couldn’t discern.  Whatever it was, it was bothering me.

So, I did what I normally do…I began processing in a logical way.  Two years ago, the church allowed me to take a one month sabbatical.  I was so grateful to have this time to pray and reflect on what God was saying to me and I was determined to find an answer to my discontentment.

While sitting in a mountain house with no family or friends around, I hung 3 large post-it notes on the wall.  I then wrote the words “Seacoast”, “Church Planting” and “Full-Time Missions” on separate sheets.  Each sheet represented what I thought Sara and I could do the rest of our lives.

I systematically went through each possibility and wrote out pros and cons. I then identified which of the pros were selfish and which were biblical.  For example, if I were to stay at Seacoast, it would be comfortable to live in Charleston because of our family, friends and everything we know in life is there.  This was not bad, but it was more of a selfish pro than a biblical one.

Then I went through the cons and marked the ones that I felt stemmed from fear.  For example, if I were to go plant a church, who’s to say I would “succeed”?  Maybe we would fail miserably and then we would be broke, with no friends and living on the streets. (my mind can wander far from reality if I allow it)  Not a godly thought, but a thought provoked by fear.

After walking through this exercise, I stepped back and the option that seemed to be best for us was to plant a church.  Now, this is how I normally work, logically, but I remember hearing Pastor Greg Surratt say one time “You should never go plant a church unless you wake up every single day and that is all you can think about.”

At that point, I couldn’t say that was true for me, but that was the place where God began to birth a desire to plant.

It wasn’t until eight months later that I could say that all I could think about was planting a church and on January 25^th, 2012, I prayed “God, if you want Sara and I to go plant a church, we are ready.  Use us in whatever way you want.  We are ready.”

It might have felt like this process was too slow at times.  It would have been nice to have prayed that prayer of submission earlier in the process.  It would have been great to know why I had feelings of discontentment years earlier.  Yet the process was perfect.

Ultimately, the process drew me closer to God.

Have you ever been in a difficult decision making process and had a tough time hearing from God?  Have you ever wondered why God didn’t just answer your questions in the timing you wanted?

I’ve learned that the most important thing about the process is not the answer one receives, but the dependency on God it creates.  The process forced me to my knees in desperation for God to answer.  The process allowed me to use my intellect, as well as listen for the still small voice of God.  The process challenged me to pray and fast at a level I had never done before.

The process allowed me to truly know and live out Proverbs 3:5-6, which states,

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Although I would have preferred the process to have been different at times, I am thankful for the final result…especially the result that God has created in me.

What process are you walking through right now? 

What is God trying to teach you through the experience you are currently going through?