The Post About God Telling Me To Quit My Job

God is good. God is great. God is aggravating.

Let me explain.

This summer I took a sabbatical to the Carolinas. Five days intended to focus on God and ponder how He designed me to impact the world.

I forgot God designed me as an extrovert who finds restoration and solace in the presence of people. So wandering alone in the Blue Ridge mountains left me crying over complimentary waffles at a Holiday Inn on Day 3.

Sabbatical over.

But the pursuit of God was not. I went home to my cozy Birmingham and dug into the process:
1. Study the Bible.
2. Read spiritual resources.
3. Seek Godly counsel.
4. Talk to God out loud in my living room.

I started in Genesis. There is no better place to start than the beginning. Plus, Genesis is where we learn that road trips with Jesus always take longer. I camped out in 50 chapters filled with obedience, rebellion and a Creator's commitment to always do what He says He'll do.

God told me to quit my job. 

I heard it in passages like Genesis 12 when God tells Abram to leave and go. I read it when God asked Abraham to lay down the very thing that defined him in Genesis 22.

Next, I read four books with a bent for stepping out in faith. I listened closely to Jen Hatmaker as she made room in her life for obedience and generosity. I highlighted all the sentences Chris Hodges used to explain the difference between having to serve God and getting to serve God. I reread Mark Buchanan's powerful exploration of how Jonah (and Jamie) live in a wonderless borderland. Finally, I wrote Bob Goff's words on my heart:

“Every day God invites us on the same kind of adventure. It's not a trip where He sends us a rigid itinerary, He simply invites us. God asks what it is He's made us to love, what it is that captures our attention, what feeds that deep indescribable need of our souls to experience the richness of the world He made. And then, leaning over us, He whispers, "Let's go do that together.”

God told me to quit my job.

I camped out with Godly people in two different weekly small group meetings. Old and new friends shared story after story of God miraculously providing in circumstances that would challenge the greatest of cynics. Rabbit Sidebar: I'm a ROCK STAR cynic.

God told me to quit my job. 

Throughout each of these steps, I found myself back on my loveseat in my living room in my house telling God what-for.

Me: Why would you want me to quit my job? I love my job and the people at my job and the snacks at my job.
God: {patiently listening}


Me: Who's going to pay my mortgage? Bank of America does not accept side hugs as payment.
God: {patiently listening}


Me: What kind of job will I get? I haven't updated my resume since 2006.
God: {patiently listening}


Then on a Monday night at 9:20pm, I put my foot down.


Me: YOU CAN'T ASK THIS OF ME. I'M NOT BRAVE LIKE BRAVE PEOPLE ARE BRAVE. 

And then my phone buzzed. This random text arrived from a friend at 9:22pm:

"Hey! I was reading in Deuteronomy 1 and Moses is reminding the Israelites of their disobedience due to fear and not trusting God. I don't know what God is speaking to you but thought of you when I read this and our need to be obedient when the instruction is clear."

God told me to quit my job.

On Thursday, that's just what I did.

Why does God want me to quit my job? Who's going to pay my mortgage? What kind of job will I get?

I don't know the answers to these questions. I only know that God and I will do it together.

God is aggravating, but He is also good and He is great.