My son (Judah) will be 2 in July. He is in a really great stage. His personality is really beginning to come out, he talks nonstop (Coleen seems to be more fluent in his language), and he loves to go for walks outside. I love when we go out shopping or walk around the block and I hear this sweet little voice saying “daddy hand, daddy hand.” When we go anywhere Judah wants to make sure he is holding Daddy or Mommy’s hand. Now I’m pretty sure by the time he is 16 this may not be the case, but for now it is pretty sweet. As I look back at my journey in planting EEE in light of my walks with Judah I’ve realized a powerful truth.
To be honest I felt a calling to plant a church in Pittsburgh for a while before I actually stepped forward to begin this journey. I fought God’s calling because I was afraid, not so much about planting a church or moving back to Pittsburgh. I was afraid that I would make the wrong decision. Actually the fear of pursuing the wrong path has been with me as long as I’ve been in ministry. It seems that when I feel God calling me to something I always begin to question “what if I begin to pursue this and it is not what God was calling me to do?” I had this idea in my head that if I would happen to pursue a path God had not laid out for me I would end up so far down the road that I would never be able to return to the true calling God had for me. The funny thing is I was so afraid of disobeying God’s call to do something, that I would decide to do nothing, which is certainly disobedience to God’s call.
I would love to tell you that if you are prayerfully pursuing God’s calling you will never misread His call. I would also love to tell you that as I’ve stepped out and began down the path of following God in planting this church I never tried to pursue a wrong direction. But the reality is no matter how well intentioned we are we will miss read God’s calling and I’ve spent a lot of time trying to go down dead end roads while planting East End Ecclesia. I’ve pursued locations that ended up not being the right location, I’ve pursued facilities that ended up not being the right place, I’ve written countless numbers of pages laying out a vision and strategy that are now in the scrap pile. This journey has been far from being a brisk stroll down a clearly marked path. But one thing I can say for certain is that every time I began down the wrong path God has redirected me to the path He has laid out.
As an example, I spent about 3 months trying to make connections, acquire a facility, and begin a weekly bible study in a neighborhood called East Liberty. I was sure this was the place we were supposed to plant. It was a great location in the center of the East End and it was at a cross road for many of the East End neighborhoods we are hoping to reach. Yet we are now planting our church in another neighborhood called Lawrenceville, in another section of the East End, with a different strategy on reaching the diverse neighborhoods of the East End. How did I get to this place? It was by grabbing Hold of the Father in prayer and continuing to walk in light of His call.
I’ve come to realize that stepping out on mission for God is much like Judah stepping off of our porch to go for a walk through the neighborhood. If Judah and I were going for a walk down to the corner store, Judah’s only responsibility is to hold tight to his daddy’s hand and keep walking. Judah is a bright young 22 month old but he still hasn’t figured out how to get around the East End yet. Of course it doesn’t matter if Judah knows exactly how to get to the corner store or the playground, actually it doesn’t even matter if he knows what our destination is. The only thing that matters is that he keeps walking and holds on to daddy’s hand. Now when Judah and I go for a walk he doesn’t always keep on the path to our destination. He often gets distracted and begins to head towards roads other than the one we are taking.
As I walked with Judah I began to wonder, what type of father would I be if as we walked Judah began to head towards the busy street or go down the wrong road and I responded by saying “well son, stinks for you that you decided to head down the wrong road and I let him head into traffic or get lost down some side street.” I’m guessing you would not think too highly of my parenting skills. Just so you know when Judah tries to go down the wrong path, I hold on to his hand a little tighter and redirect him down the path we are taking.
As long as Judah is walking and holding his daddy’s hand he knows that daddy will lead him to where we are going.
If this is true about a child and his fallible daddy, how much more will this be true when we walk with our Perfect Heavenly Father. As we step off our porch into the great journey of Mission with our Father, we are responsible for two things, to keep walking and to hold tight to our Daddy’s hand. I can attest to this in my own experience planting EEE. I’ve started down many “wrong” roads, but as I hold on to the Father in prayer He has continued to be faithful to squeeze my hand a bit tighter and redirect my steps.
I want to challenge all of us, if you feel God has called you to step out on mission for Him, you may not know what it will look like, you may not even know where you are going, but you can have confidence that as long as you are holding tight to your Daddy’s hand He will not allow you to go too far down the wrong path.
Do you truly trust our Heavenly Father? If so get off the porch, hold tight to your Daddy’s hand, and begin walking.
