“The most miserable person in the world is a Christian who isn’t living for God.”
Those words, spoken by the teacher subbing for our regular life group teacher, were the words God used to start an awakening in my soul. They moved me. They disturbed me. They were FOR me!
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Bill and I had been attending First Baptist Church of Indian Trail for a year or two at this point. I had started singing in the choir. I was still going to life group, and I had started going to Bible studies led by our life group teacher’s wife. I had even gone to my life group teacher and his wife a time or two to talk about this worldview I had created. I only remember going once or twice, and I don’t know how forthcoming I was with what was really going on inside my head.
I was still actively fighting against God’s convictions though. Four years passed, and I put up a valiant fight against His whispers and tugs. He’s persistent though, so He kept chiseling.
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Then, in early 2009, our son, Ethan, was born. I went back to work after 8 weeks because that’s what you’re “supposed to do,” but by the fall of 2009, I started having the strangest notion: I wanted to be at home with my baby.
That was TOTALLY foreign to me. It had never occurred to me to stay home with my child. Honestly, I always thought people who did that were…well, crazy, quite frankly. Why in the world would anyone want to be at home all day with a whiny, screaming, snotty-nosed kid?!
Even so, God had been placing me into different situations and was using various things to soften my heart and convict me in that direction since our son was born.
I was scared! This was crazy! What would my poor parents think after paying for me to earn a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree? What would my poor husband think? We’d bought a house two years prior to our son’s birth and just bought a new car since Ethan was born. I was crazy confused.
Then, I started to realize that this must be something God was calling me to do. I had no idea if that was true or not though because I had no idea what it was like to have God tell me to do something.
I had to figure it out, so I started asking people – trusted women I had met at church. One of the women I talked to was the wife of our current Sunday school teacher (we’d gotten a new teacher in the past 4 years). I explained what I was feeling and that I was starting to think this was something God was telling me to do.
“How do I know the difference between something God is directing me to do and something that’s just my own idea?” I asked her.
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She explained that, first and most importantly, God would never tell anyone to do something that wasn’t biblical. If what you think God is telling you to do goes against something written in His Word, then it isn’t God telling you to do it.
This trusted lady also told me that, if this thing is actually a conviction from God, it won’t go away. God will gently but consistently keep convicting you of what He wants you to do. Sometimes, when we think up things on our own, they come and go easily, especially if it takes a while to achieve it or we meet lots of opposition while trying to do it. However, a conviction from God doesn’t just shrink away at the first sign of difficulty. He won’t let it. I’ve heard it said that God is a gentleman. He won’t ever force Himself on us, but He will continue to woo us and encourage us in the direction He wants us to go until we choose to go that way on our own.
Finally, my confidante asked me if I felt peace about this – leaving my job and staying at home with my child. I remember a smile quickly spreading across my face as I confidently told her that I did feel peace!
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It was insane! I had been afraid of it at first, but the more I thought about it and all the details that led me to believe it was God prodding me in that direction, I had indeed experienced a peace and calmness. Our life group teacher’s wife told me that peace was one of the best ways to judge whether God is telling you to do something or not. If you feel conflicted, it probably isn’t from God. If you feel peace, it is most likely from God.
I felt TOTAL peace about this. I was confident that this was a “God-thing,” as people say. It just wasn’t anything I would have cooked up on my own! But, as I was learning how to hear God’s voice, I began to trust that this was in fact what He had in mind for me.
Bill, on the other hand, was definitely NOT at peace with this crazy idea. (That is a blog post all its own that I’ll share another time). So, we prayed about it a great deal over weeks and months it seemed. Finally, he just shook his head. “The numbers don’t add up,” he said, referring to the many times he’d calculated our bills versus his salary to find out that his salary alone wouldn’t cover what we’d need to pay out each month.
“But,” he went on, “if you’re saying God is telling you to do this, I can’t go against it. We have to do it. We’ll just have to trust that He’ll take care of us.”
In May 2010, I worked my last full-time semester at the community college where I was teaching, and I haven’t regretted it for a moment.
I couldn’t have known, but this was another crucial turning point in my journey back to God. It was the first time in my life since I accepted Christ as a 12-year-old, that I stepped out in faith and completely submitted to His will. (I was 31 when I left my full-time job.)
I experienced God’s provision during this time in my life, and that was a big deal for me. Obviously, there were plenty of other times in my life that He provided, but I never acknowledged that it was Him until He told me to leave my job and go home…and I did it…and He provided for us.
Do you remember the first time you knew it was God directing you to do something or not to do something? What was it like? How did you know?
Do you remember a time when you experienced His provision after you stepped out in faith and did what He wanted?
Would you share these experiences with us?
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I completely relate to exactly how you were feeling! I also was teaching and loved my job, then one summer I decided to take a month off (I taught year-round) to spend with my two daughters. During that month, I spent every morning with God, reading and praying. I started hearing this whisper telling me to homeschool my children. At first, I kept it to myself but I had trouble returning to work when the month was over. This place that I had loved and found pleasure in began to feel like a prison. One other point was at the time I was the only income, my husband, who is a disabled Veteran, was having trouble finding a job that he could physically do. Right before the new school year was set to start, we found out that I was pregnant. Reluctantly, we agreed that it was “best” if I continued working during the pregnancy. I was miserable, instead of trusting God, I went with worldly wisdom. Another struggle was that everyone I spoke to, even Godly women were advising me against it, that I would be crazy to quit work while being the only income. But I knew that it was God calling me. God is faithful! I trusted in Him and He provided. The very day my daughter was born, after I had resigned, my husband got offered a job making almost double what I was making. And He has continued blessing and providing for us in miraculous ways ever since. I am sorry that I wrote a book! I just love sharing with others who have followed God’s calling and bragging about how faithful He is! God bless you, sister!
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God is so awesome! Stories like this give me chill bumps. Thank you for sharing. Brag on God all you want and make it as long as you want :-). People, especially women who may be in a similar situation, definitely need to hear our stories so they may be encouraged in their lives.
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I can absolutely relate. Yes it is scary!!!!!I was on my way to ny real estate job when zi heard a vouce say,”write your book.”I had massive goose bumps for a straight 25 minutes. I had no idea what it took to be a writer and ironically i had dropped out of colllege because english classes was not for me. In order to know if this was really God I said, ok..if this is really you then give me the title of my book right now. I was in tears when I saw the words “solace encounters” Fast firward the story i remained going to work and i kept telling myself this was not God talking to me but my mind playing games with me. A few days later i was watching tv and i hear the voice again,”write your book now.” I told God i didnt have time that was too much work and besides it would get in the way of my eork and strangely he tells me,you are not going yo have that job tomorrow.” No way that couldnt possibly happen to me a few days befire christmas. The next day I was fired…lol. I did thank God for giving me a heads up. I probably would had been crying in front of my boss. So i was quite blown away from that exoetience but very terrified too because that meant I had a whole lot of writing to do. I was kind of erked God was behind my getting fired that I told God I wasnt going to write nothing for being sneaky I and getting me fired…lol and you wouldnt guess the extremes God went to let me know just how serious he was about me writing this book. At night time when i would be snuggles under my blanket and ready to nod off i would hear his voice say,”write your book” and I was in tears on the third night…he refused to leave me alone until i wrote the book. It can be scary when you are called to do something you arent qualifued or know how to do.
God bless:))))
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Nancy, I have found that most of the things God asks me to do seem crazy to me at first until I realize that it’s Him. Then, it isn’t so crazy – probably a little different than what I would have chosen to do on my own, but not crazy. So glad you’re choosing to obey Him too and write your book 🙂 Thanks for reading and for responding, too.
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I can see how your words would inspire other mom’s who may be questioning God’s voice too! And why it continues to be a popular post with it’s wisdom on how to discern God’s voice.
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Thank you for reading the post, Lynn, and for the kind words.
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Same here. Left my job. I am single. God has shown what is next. Something for me will arrive “just for me”. It ain’t easy. One day God persuaded me to buy the shoes I’d wanted for a year at Macys (half price). I was so mad given my circumstances. He said for me to trust Him. You guys’ words encourage.
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I’ve learned that obedience releases the blessings He had planned. When we do what He tells us to do, He gives us the blessings He had in mind to give us. I’m thankful for that…but I am still slow to be obedient sometimes. Guess that’s the human in me 😉 Thanks for reading and for your comment.
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I am in this same situation now. God has told me to leave my job, which I have known for months was coming. I know God is leading to a different place and a completely different location. I know in my heart I am doing the right thing and I have been saving for months, but I am my only source of income.
Thank you for your blog post. I also just started a blog. Would I be able to connect with you about blogging?
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Thank you for reading the post and for the response. I’m thankful that the post was helpful for you. That’s what I pray my writing does – points people to Christ and helps them in their lives in some way. I saw the message you left me through my Contact page and will email you about blog discussion.
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My brother lives with me, and I’m struggling to believe God told him not to work. I believe the Lord has led me to help him. I’m asking for prayer for peace in my heart, mind and soul. He prays three times a day, so he’s saying he can’t do that if he has a job. The only reason I haven’t accepted it because after he relocated, he said, ” I guess God doesn’t want me to work, I haven’t found a job. Now it has turned into, “God told me not to work”. That has been since July 2022. So I went searching for articles for God telling people not work. I just want Clarity! I’m praying, but I feel like I’m not getting an answer.
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Hi Tami, I’m sorry you’re in this situation – especially with your brother. Conflict seems to be even more difficult when family is involved. Are you and your brother in a church family/fellowship? I was thinking this might be helpful to have other believers come along side you both and pray with and for you guys – for this situation and in general.
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