Francis Chan says in his book Crazy Love, “Having faith often means doing what others see as crazy. Something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers”. I mention that quote because of the incredible season I’ve been going through in my relationship with God the past few months. I’ve been in this particular season, however, since December of 2009, and it really started to take shape in March of this year. I thought it would be best to chronicle what has happened so others can see the awesome workings of our heavenly Father when we are obedient to His call.
I say this season started in December of 2009 because that is when God put it on my heart that it was time to make a change in my career. This was a tough call for me because I had been at my job for 10 years at the time, and really enjoyed doing what I did, but being the smart man that I am I could see why God was making the call (or so I thought), and I started searching for a job. However, unbeknownst to me I only had half the story. In any event, I started sending out countless resumes and filling out countless applications just to come up empty handed. After a year of rejection, I almost decided to give up hope, and started to question God’s call for me to do this because I thought it was going to be an immediate change.
Here is where the story gets interesting. In January of this year I attended a Pastor's Conference in Merritt Island, FL at Calvary Chapel Merritt Island. I will warn you now, if you don't want your life messed with then do not attend a Pastor's Conference. Anyway, while I was there the Holy Spirit revealed to me that I would be taking a leap of faith soon. I immediately started asking God what this meant. I'm always willing to do what God puts on my heart I just need to know what it is. After seeking the Lord diligently in prayer for the next week, He finally revealed what it is He wanted me to do. I was at work, in prayer, when I got the notion from the Holy Spirit that He wanted me to leave my job even though I had no job to go too. Where’s my faith, right? Well, I took this notion and brought it too my wife. I was expecting her to say, “No way. You’re not doing that. How are we going to survive?” but she didn’t say any of that. She was actually in agreement. She even shared this scripture from Matthew 18:8-9 that says, “(Jesus speaking) 8And if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. 9And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.”
In previous conversations with Tara, we would talk about how my job was affecting my walk with the Lord, and things like lust, complaining, and pride would take center stage. Jesus says in Matthew 5:28, “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart”. Lust has always been a battle where I worked because of the high traffic of women that cycled through each and every day. In regards to complaining, it says in Philippians 2:14-15, “14Do all things without murmuring and disputing, 15that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world”. I found myself complaining quite often because I didn’t agree with decisions and practices that were being put into place at work, and though I voiced my concerns to the appropriate people, I still complained about them to others. Then there’s pride, which I’ll talk about later. Lastly, was my witness of Christ to my co-workers. Jesus calls us to be “the salt of the earth” in Matthew 5:13 and to be “the light of the world” in Matthew 5:14, and I don’t feel I was the best light and could have done better.
After speaking with my wife, I then took to the next two weeks in prayer, fasting, and seeking counsel to confirm that this is what God was calling me to do. I felt like Gideon in the book of Judges chapters 6-8. If you don’t know the story, God had called Gideon to take on the army of the Midianites to save Israel from persecution. Gideon, in his eyes, was the absolute opposite of a warrior and he kept asking God for confirmation to ensure this is what He wanted him to do. Just as He did with Gideon, God continued to confirm that this is what He wanted, so on February 5th I gave my notice.
When I gave my notice, I then thought I would have a job soon. I actually got a job interview a week later, but was turned down. My last day was on February 22nd and still had no new job nor did I have any interviews lined up, but my spirit wasn’t diminished because I knew God was calling me to a season of trust and time with Him. I was thinking it would be about a month. How little did I know...
I am sooooooo proud of you!
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