Fired! or Rescued by God?
When your world and ministry comes crashing down, you can feel very hurt and deeply betrayed. You may be willing to admit you were wrong in a number of ways, but those who pushed you out were also well off base and handled the situation poorly.
This can be the time when you walk away from the church so disillusioned you think you may never return. The masks they all wore when they carried out your termination seemed so obvious. The feigned concern they showed after they had spoken wrong about you behind your back - all of it was so sickening. But then came the clincher. After telling you all the things you did wrong, and listing all the people you have hurt, they look you straight in the eye and say, "We will always love you and pray for you." Oh, please!
We walk away knowing we made mistakes, but wondering how people we served and sacrificed for could turn on us and wound us so deeply? But, wait, maybe we are looking at this whole situation too closely! Maybe we can't see the forest for the trees!
Instead of looking at this as the end, perhaps it is a whole new beginning orchestrated by God himself! Sure, why not? Instead of seeing only a group of arguing fighting Christians who are caught in their own prision of bitterness - giving you the axe, perhaps this whole event is God reaching into your life and rescuing you from a lifeless church going nowhere fast. This is very likely if you have been developing, listening to God and growing ever closer to him. Just because you have spent twenty years in a given organization doesn't mean you are still on the same playing field as the organization.
In my case, God came along and opened my mind and heart into a new dimension from the legalistic denomination I was serving in. Over a two year period God revealed grace, faith, worship, praise and freedom to Kathy and I in a way we never understood before. We fell so deeply in love with Jesus we could not help but walk forward in the direction the spirit led us. When we were attacked, labelled, and eventually fired by our church we certainly felt hurt. But, after a time of thought I realized we had no future with that group, and God was rescuing us for new and different ministry opportunities. Living in Colorado Springs and attending New Life Church is like living on a different planet compared to where we were a few years ago with the previous group.
When this is the case you can feel love and pity for those who attacked you. It was you who no longer fit in. You now are the outsider, and it is the Lord Jesus who is moving you on to new pastures. For better or worse, those sheep with the sharp teeth back in the old church are still there, protecting the way things have always been! God is working with them on a different time schedule than yours. Don't slide into bitterness toward them, but rather thank Jesus for the life-saving rescue that has opened new doors for your service toward him.
Certainly, if you were terminated for adultery, stealing money or preaching heresy, then you are reaping what you have sown. Your demise is not God rescuing you from a bad church. Maybe you were falsely accused of such things and had to leave the accusers behind. We still want to encourage every one of you and love you all we can at Smoldering Wick Ministry. Your future and ministry are still extremely important, and we want to help and encourage you.
Regardless of how you ended up in your present state, the past is the past. Tomorrow is another day, and you are a child of God looking forward to eternity. Rest, have fun. Love Jesus, shout for joy! Look into the future and ask Jesus what he wants you to do next. God bless everyone of you!