Faith Adventure

“I am going to ask you to do something, and if you will be obedient, it will be a gateway to bigger blessings than you can even imagine.” God (September 2023)

It’s been just over a year since I so clearly heard God speak those words to my heart. It’s been a year of challenging my faith. It’s been a year of strategic planning. It’s been a year of learning and growing. It’s been a year of watching God confirm His plans and His care for me repeatedly. It’s been a year of new friendships and new learning opportunities. It’s been a year of letting go of things that have become idols in my life.

And yesterday, I reached a culmination of full obedience: I quit my job.

Please hear me. God is not going to ask everyone to simply quit their job. He calls us to love Him with our minds as much as our hearts, and loving with our minds includes thinking through the consequences of our actions. For me, however, it has become very obvious that He is asking me to take this wild and crazy step of faith.

It began in the summer of 2023. I attended a night of prayer and prophecy. Now, I come from a Southern Baptist background that teaches cessationism, that the gifts of prophecy and tongues haves ceased. However, as I’ve studied scripture and dug into my relationship with God, I’ve begun to wonder who we are to determine how the God of the Universe can and does work. While I have not personally spoken in tongues, I refuse to limit God to my finite understanding.

Anyway, in this night of prayer and prophecy, a woman I had never met began to speak over me. She nailed me! She said things to me she could have never known. Can we just say Holy Spirit anointing? In the course of the conversation, she began to ask if I was wanting to build a business. She asked my timeline. I told her I had planned to continue working for three more years (2026) at which time my youngest would graduate from college.

“You can work for three more years,” she began, “but Holy Spirit is saying He will honor you if you choose to quit now.”

Honestly, I didn’t know how to respond. It would be stupid and irresponsible to walk away from my job with no financial stability, or so I reasoned. Yet, the words pierced my heart as I knew I longed for so much more!

I shared with my husband about the evening, and much to my surprise he confessed he had been praying I would quit my job. He could see the toll it took on my, pouring out so much of my life to a job. He could tell my passions and purpose were dying a little each day simply because I didn’t have the energy to work and build a business.

A few months later, I had the very clear conversation above with God. I knew He was calling me to a step of faith that would challenge me regarding our finances. You see, I am a very risk averse person. I am cautious with our finances. I have worked hard for many years to provide for my kids. Money is most definitely a form of security for me. I had no idea that day He was going to ask me to quit my job.

But two weeks later.

Two weeks later, we were informed we would no longer be allowed to work remotely. It turned my world upside down! You see, I had finally established a sense of balance in my life. I had time to get up and care for me—time with God and exercise—before starting my day. I could stay on top of my life by throwing laundry in the washer or prepping meals between meetings. I truly felt I had the best of both worlds. With one simple decision, I was robbed of two extra hours a day, two hours of commute time, two hours that destroyed every ounce of balance I had been working so hard to achieve.

And it was then I knew God was calling me to walk away.

As I wrote my letter of resignation, I sensed God calling me to be strategic.

“Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves.Matthew 10:16

This verse was so strong in my heart as I began to see ways to be strategic. I switched positions within the organization, switching to a three-day work week. That gave me some extra days at home but also robbed me of holidays and weekends. I worked on my off days earning a Leadership Development certification with GiANT worldwide. I’ve made connections with individuals and enjoyed building relationships. I’ve worked incredibly hard to lay the foundation for what is to come.

I wish I could tell you I’ve been able to replace my income already. I haven’t. Resigning my position is truly a step of faith. However, I also can’t tell you all the times we’ve had an extra deposit in our checking account that was completely unexpected. I can’t start to tell you all the ways God has confirmed and reconfirmed this decision. I can’t start to tell you how God has begun to restore my passion and vision for an incredible vision—complete with a ministry to single moms!

In 2 Chronicles 25, King Amaziah of Judah was planning to go to war. He paid a large sum of money to hire troops from Israel. A man of God came to him and told him not to take the Israelite men to battle with him because their hearts were far from Him, and He was not with the men of Israel. At this time, Amaziah had already paid a large sum of money to Israel to hire the soldiers. In his humanity, Amaziah was distraught over the money he had already paid.

Amaziah asked the man of God, “But what about all that silver I paid to hire the army of Israel?”

The man of God replied, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this!” So Amaziah discharged the hired troops and sent them back to Ephraim… 2 Chronicles 25:9-10a

For so long, I now realize my security has come from my paycheck, not God. I have been wholly dependent on my own abilities to work, earn an income, and balance a budget. God has said to me on more than one occasion that I cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24) and to seek Him first (Matthew 6:33).

When I ready 2 Chronicles 25:9, I so clearly heard Him say, “I can replace your income and so much more!”

When we know God is calling us to a step of faith, it is essential we find a way to be obedient. I don’t know what my future holds, but I do know who holds my future. I believe I am stepping out into a new faith venture, and I am ready to see what God does in me and through me in the days to come!

What step of obedience is God calling you to? Where is He working on your heart? I doubt He’s calling you to simply walk away from a job—that’s my story. What’s your story? What have you put off doing because you are too distracted by this life?

Walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Get alone with Him, and let Him guide you into the future.

And let me know where He’s working on you! I would love to come alongside you and pray with and for you as we live this faith adventure together!