Daniel Im

Pastor + Author

decision making

Best Resources on Transition

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Are you praying about making a move? Trying to discern God’s will, but not sure how to decide?

Change is the one thing that’s constant in life. And as I recently outlined in my last two articles, Christina and I have gone through a lot of change!

So, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite resources on transition to help you discern your next step in life and leadership:

1. Bible and Journaling

The Holy Spirit is the ultimate guide. So the best way to position yourself to hear from God is by spending time reading and praying through the Bible. Although I haven’t always been the biggest fan of journaling, I’ve actually found that it’s helped me focus and process what’s going on. After all, moving and changing jobs is one of the most stressful transitions that no one talks about.

And here’s a #protip for journaling: Journaling isn’t about you and the journal. Journaling is about you and God. So when you journal, write down your prayers to God and process what’s going on as a prayer to God.

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The Difference Between an Opportunity and a Calling

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“That was the worst sermon you ever preached. Why are you even here? Just go back to Nashville.”

It’s true. I heard those words.

It happened when Christina and I were interviewing at Beulah Alliance Church this last year. As I shared last week, God had unsettled our hearts and led us to the point where we knew our next right thing was to go up to Edmonton and interview.

Now whether coming back to Beulah was just an opportunity or a calling, we weren’t certain of. All we knew was that the next right thing was to go to Edmonton. So that’s what we did. With an open heart and a deep desire to live our lives wholeheartedly for God—wherever, whenever, and doing whatever—we hopped on a plane and flew to Edmonton. After all, for as long as I can remember, this has been our family motto: “Lord, here I am. Lord, here we are.”

So we went. And it went well.

Thursday. Friday. Saturday. Interviews. Meet and greets. Meals. Everything went well. Incredibly well. Honestly, I don’t know if I could’ve planned it any better. So clearly this meant that God was saying yes, right? That He was opening up the opportunity for us to come back and help lead Beulah to accomplish its vision to reach 1% of greater Edmonton for Christ…right?

Isn’t that how God leads?

Didn’t someone say that a lack of obstacles is another sign for God’s leading? That if you’re in God’s plan, no man can be against you?

I hope you’re shaking your head and vehemently disagreeing with me because that last paragraph was 100% sarcasm.

In the Bible we see that trials and opposition are actually a good thing—and to some extent a matter of joy—because it’s one of the ways that God shapes our faith and matures us (James 1:2-4). We see this all throughout the Scriptures with Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, Paul, and the disciples.

Trials and opposition are actually a good thing—and to some extent a matter of joy.
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But if you look at it the other way, the presence of opposition doesn’t necessarily equate to God’s leading either.

So what is it? How does God lead?!

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The Most Important Question When Discerning Your Next Steps

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Not making the decision isn’t the issue. The issue is not even having the option of making the decision.

It’s not that I don’t like double negatives, it’s just that they can sometimes be tricky to navigate—much like decision making. And boy, was this last year ever a year for decision making.

Five years ago, when we moved down to Nashville to serve the Church in her mission of making disciples with LifeWay Leadership, I never thought we’d be back up in Canada this soon. In fact, we had just gotten permanent residency in the States, which was a long, complicated, and expensive process.

But last Fall, Christina and I began sensing that change was on the horizon. There was this unsettledness in our hearts that couldn’t be explained. We loved everything about our lives in Nashville. Our community was incredible, our church was healthy and growing, our podcast was impacting marriages and families, and my work at LifeWay was affecting and changing church practice. I was also in the middle of writing my third book, while continuing to accept invitations to speak on my previous one. In other words, there was no human reason for us to move, or even consider a change—especially if you’re an Enneagram 3 like I am. In fact, I even heard some people remark that I had their dream job.

So you can probably anticipate how surprised I was when, only a few months later, Christina and I started praying about coming back to Beulah Alliance Church—especially since it was in the middle of an Edmonton winter (#ifyouknowyouknow). And to be crystal clear, this wasn’t some trite little “prayer” that we carelessly tossed up to God. No, this was one of those all-hands-on-deck, get-on-your-knees, everything-is-up-for-grabs, I-can’t-believe-I’m-actually-praying-this kind of prayer.

Here’s why it was one of those prayers.

When Keith Taylor, the Lead Pastor of Beulah for the last 28 years, asked us to pray about coming back, it wasn’t just to fill a gap. He had been asking God to unsettle the right person’s heart who was going to come alongside him and lead Beulah into the future.

Unsettle?

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