Has God Every Asked You to Do Something "Crazy"

I would not even begin to give you advice as to what you should do in your situation. That would be reckless of me as I do not know all of the variables in your life. However, trusting God is never wrong. Being COMPLETELY convinced that it is God leading you to quit your job. The devil himself can appear as an angle, and is very, very good at deception. Scripture tells us this.

I have never been lead by God to do something "crazy." In my experience, God prepares His children to accomplish what He has for them to do, and when directing their path, He makes that path quite clear. Sometimes, "leaps of faith" are required when serving God, and those times can be troubling for a Christian. Even then, I believe that God reveals to us what the "target" is for the leap of faith, and not just taking a "shot in the dark."

"Has God Every Asked You to Do Something "Crazy"?"

All the time.

Listening to God doesn't mean you won't suffer afterwards, but you won't have regrets as a result.

I have too many stories to share, and I'd rather not share online. But, about your situation, I once had a similar nagging feeling about a job, and I ignored it and stayed at the company for a year longer then found a different job. A lot of bad things happened as a result. And, yes, the CEO turned out to be a very unethical man despite the company being a highly prestigious one, and he got fired 3 months after I left in a very public shaming kind of way. In other words, I served a very evil man for a year when I could have been serving good people instead in a different job as I have in previous jobs. So, I greatly regret it.

That said, I am not responsible for any decision you make as a result of reading my response. haha.

Godspeed.

Scribe, I am very impressed with your story since I work in IT too. I am a software engineering expert doing desktop and web development. Godspeed.

Thank you brother,

IT is a great career and many niches therein pay high hourly rates. Plenty of money to be made. Some people are called to be bi-vocational and serve the Lord and preach the Gospel while also working in a career. I thought I would try to do the same for many years but I knew God had called me to preach the Gospel fulltime before I even attempted to learn an IT career. I was running from the call to preach when I started the IT career. I felt pressure to please my wife and make more money to give her the things of the world.

Many people who are struggling in life financially can drastically turn their lives around by enrolling in community college in computer networking or programming and find a high paying niche. I suggest anything related to SAP.

That is what I did in 1997 when I decided I wanted to get one of those high paying jobs I was reading about. I enrolled in a computer science associates plan with an emphasis on networking at a community college, while I was working at a roofing job. I got a PC Support job at a major Corporate headquarters in my first year of college and then I focused on a learning SAP Security and became a consultant for 17 years. That skill is still in high demand and will be for decades to come. I was thankful for the money and the success but I always had that knowledge that I was not following the call to preach.

My wife left me after 25 years and I used it as my excuse to fall into an alcohol addiction for the next 8 years. Finally I cried out to God in repentance and after spending a year at New York Adult and Teen Challenge being set free from addiction and filled with the Holy Ghost, and praying the entire time for God's direction I heard the call to preach and to give myself wholly to the study of the Word of God. I do not make the money I used to make but I have never been happier.

People who know me and know how much money I turn down daily from recruiters who email me think that I am crazy. But that is only because they do not know the deep satisfaction and thrill of the adventure that is involved in being Called to Preach and anointed with the Holy Ghost. I am much richer now.

Someone else might hear God telling them to do both, work in IT and preach the Gospel, and have just as much satisfaction.

There is no one plan fits all when it comes to ministry vs career. The answer will always be found on an individual basis by praying diligently and continuously until you know that you know that you have heard from God and then obeying Him in faith and not turning back once you set your hand to the plow. Sometimes that requires burning another plow to do so.

The most important task is to pray and know that;
1) God has promised and is willing to speak to you and lead you in the direction He has called you to go. Pray in faith believing that God is going to reveal His will for you.

2) Believe that He can give you the ability to HEAR Him when He is speaking and KNOW that you have heard. Many people believe that God can reveal His will to them but they have great doubts in their ability to HEAR Him. This also will require faith that God is able to MAKE you able to hear and understand Him. Your confidence must be that He can overcome your inabilities to hear.

3) Include the body of Christ and Church leadership in your prayer and decisions as it is God's method that we do the work of the ministry as a joint effort with the body of Christ and not as lone rangers. God uses others who hear from the Holy Spirit in prayer to confirm that He is calling people to do a certain work of ministry for the edification of all. I cannot stress the importance of the body of Christ in fulfilling your divine calling and purpose in life.

4) Don't draw back in unbelief when you face difficulty or persecution while following the path that He has made clear to you in prayer. Difficulty does not mean you have missed God. Remember all the difficulties that the apostle Paul faced while carrying out one of the most fulfilling lives anyone could ever hope to live on planet earth.

Making money is never good as a main goal though as it is based on greed, which is evil and hurts oneself and the community. Work must always be based on service to others just like Jesus Christ taught us. As such, making money happens indirectly then (not as a main goal) as a fair compensation for a job well done for others. I avoid greed like the plague and strongly believe that nations should impose a maximum limit on wealth that is high enough, but not too high (perhaps a million dollars). That way, people only work towards reaching that limit and once they do, they've made it, and could then just relax (stop accepting more customer orders or hire more people to distribute the wealth) and help others in the community reach that goal too. It would be a win for everyone (without resorting to demotivating taxation measures).

Godspeed.