Luke 14:33
So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
Leaving Job Security
I just lived this out not long ago. I had this very strong calling to leave my job yet had no full-time job with which to replace it. I had an idea of doing something to fill in part of my income, but clearly when I turned in my notice, I didn’t have a clue as to how I was going to make it financially. To be honest, leaving my job security felt scary, but I had this overwhelming feeling that I was supposed to do this. This was the same feeling that I couldn’t resist when I was called into the ministry years ago, and it was like a fire burning within me (Jer. 20:9). Even so, I kicked and screamed in resistance against it for so long. Would you ever leave your job, which is your life’s security, if you felt convinced that God was calling you to do it?
Forsaking All for the Kingdom
Seeking God is to seek His will, and that means we seek first the King of that kingdom (Matt. 6:33). Easy to say but so very hard to do, isn’t it? Paul had it made as a Pharisee and a young man who had an unlimited future, but God had to strike him down and humble him on the Damascus Road in order to save him and call him into His work (Acts 9:2-10). For the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Paul considered everything else a loss compared to Christ’s mission for his life (Phil. 3:7). Moses, who would have been next in line as Pharaoh, gave it all up, including the passing pleasures of sin, because of God’s calling on his life (Heb. 11:24-26). Moses gave up all that he was comfortable with and left all of his security behind for the sake of God’s call. Abraham left his family, job, and every creature comfort he had to go to a place he had never even seen before but was obedient to this call of God (Gen. 12:1-3). What was Abram’s (later changed to Abraham) response? It was, “So Abram went, as the Lord told him” (Gen, 12:4).
What Is God Calling You To Do?
We all have a ministry to one degree or another, so I am not suggesting you call your employer and tell them that you’re quitting your job today because you feel that God has something in store for you. He may, but I want to make sure you seek godly counsel, that you have an overwhelming sense about it, and that you feel compelled to something very specific. I resisted my pastoral calling for a very long time, and it took people from my work and church and my friends persuading me time and again that confirmed what I felt in my heart for so long. I was resistant because I felt–and to some degree still feel today–unworthy of this calling. But maybe that’s the point. God is said to never call the qualified to something but to qualify them for something to which He’s called them. What if God called you to leave your job? Would you believe it and know that it’s best? That is something only you and God can decide. If it is for the purpose of glorifying Him, then He may well be doing just that.
A Closing Prayer
Father God, You alone know my future. Please help me to trust You in the decisions I make, and help me to have confirmation from You, Your Spirit, my Christian friends and leadership and that my motivation is for Your glory alone and not for my own. In Jesus’ precious name I pray.
Amen
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