We may never know the story or terms of the contract, but the last thing I heard on the subject is that ABC/Disney offered to buy out the contract, and CBN gave them a number that was much higher than ABC/Disney was willing to pay at the time. I believe this was back during the ABC Family days.I would think if CBN didn’t care much about Freeform showing 700 Club CBN would accept a payment from Disney to end the contract.
I don't see CBN having any interest in operating a secular network, and flipping it to a religious network will likely violate any contract terms that the cable companies who still carry it have with the network (It's the same reason HLN simulcasts CNN in the morning, because if they didn't, Cable Companies could drop them for no longer being a news network). They may sell to A&E, and if that doesn't work, I could see a very good chance that it either be shuttered, or eventually defacto shuttered when Comcast, Dish, DirectTV, etc. all want the same deal they just gave Charter (which, make no mistake, they will want when those carriage agreements expire). Freeform is on borrowed time, the way I see it.