Still looking for the “perfect” church, where everyone is prim and proper and no one gets in your way? Or perhaps you are one of those always scouting around for the next big move of God, that you’ve never really had a local assembly where you are being blessed and being a blessing, then you are doing yourself a dis-favour-you need to be planted in the house of God in order to flourish.

Plus there’s a spiritual covering that comes with being under a ministry that preaches the undiluted word of God, in and out of season.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s okay to attend various conferences and meetings aimed at building up your spiritual muscles and increasing your capacity to believe the Lord for the impossible; no one has it all, but you do need to be planted in a church- the house of God, in order to flourish.

The Bible says in Psalm 92:13 (KJV) that “Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God”.  So, you need to be planted in a church, in order to grow, spiritually, not just any church, but where God wants you to be because God blesses people at their destined location, so speak to the Lord about it and He’ll direct your steps, and trust me it’s not going to be a “perfect” church because there is no perfect church. God is still working on each and every one of us, so find your place, settle down, be blessed and be a blessing to others!

One major reason, amongst many others, why people “Church-hop”, is when there’s a change in leadership. They’ve gotten used to a particular preacher and suddenly he or she’s no longer there, so they leave. But you need to ask yourself. Is your destiny tied to this particular man or woman of God who has just left or is about to leave?

I know change can be very unsettling. We love the comfort of a familiar face, a familiar voice and the gentle assurance that comes with being under the same pastoral care, more like a family doctor, if you please. The friendship, the fellowship and in some cases, the commitment to the man or woman of God, that we sometimes feel the need to relocate along with them, but don’t move yourself on if the Lord isn’t moving you on. Remember God blesses people at their destined location, so stay in the house and be a blessing.

And for those who decide to stay, there’s that unconscious tendency to compare the “new” with the “old” as we pitch the new preacher against his predecessor, forgetting that each one of us is uniquely called by God.

So the new preacher is nothing like the one that’s just left, perhaps not as articulate or maybe not as gifted. Does that give us any reason to deride them? Of course not! Neither does it make them any less called. God chooses people for a reason and for a season and sometimes we have to put our prejudices aside to see what the Lord is doing.  Moses had a speech impediment, Exodus 4:10, yet God chose him to deliver the people of Israel out of bondage. Think for a moment what would or could have happened had the children of Israel rejected his leadership just because he couldn’t get his words out, quickly enough. They would have missed their moment of deliverance from the hands of Pharaoh.

Your new pastor may not be as gregarious as his or her predecessor but if God has called him or her, it’s for a reason. Prayerfully ask God to help you see beyond their weaknesses and be a blessing to them-your pastors need you. They need your prayers and they need your encouragement. Often times we forget that men and women of God are people just like us. They face challenges, just like everyone else, and need all the support they can get as they navigate the deep waters of pastoral leadership, especially in unfamiliar territory.

You and I would have at one time in our lives been the new kid on the block, but someone stretched out a hand of friendship and made us feel welcome. Be that hand to your new pastors. Make them feel welcome. They may not be able to preach thunder and lightning-like their predecessors but God has raised them up for a time like this. Let’s support our men and women of God, as much as we can. They need our encouragement more than we often realize.