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Out his experience in moving with children, a pastor colleague of Naomi’s gave her some wish counsel concerning her children:  that she make sure not to tell them that the move was something God had decided and about which she had no choice.  This sort of buck-passing evasion of both responsibility and accountability could dramatically impact the children’s faith, in the short and the long term, if they were to transfer frustrations with their mother onto God.  The “God made me do it: explanation does not speak well of either God or the pastor!  Instead, the pastor should share how he or she is seeking to be faithful to God’s leading, acknowledging how this can hurt loved ones but hopefully can open the possibility for growing in faith through the experience.

Ten Commandments for Pastors Leaving a Congregation, Lawrence W. Farris, page 68