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How to discern a "leap of faith" from "taking a foolish risk"


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In a nutshell, we are tired of living in our cold weather climate and started talking about moving cross country to where it's warmer, plus there's no chance of hurricanes.  We have other family in the state we'd be moving to.

Neither one of us has ever earned a lot of money but our current home is paid for (although not worth much) and we're used to living thriftily.  However, I lost my job a few months ago and am only collecting unemployment which will run out in a few more months.  I'm having difficulty finding a new job locally so I can anticipate it would be that much harder in a different state.  If we move, we would want to rent before jumping into buying something, but again we're not used to paying anything for housing.  We have some money in investments but don't want to deplete that just to pay rent.  We really want to get out of this climate and have been praying but are still torn and undecided.  How do you know if/when to "take the plunge" and trust that God will let everything work out or whether you're just making a stupid move (no pun intended)?   

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:) FWIW, here's my last few "leaps" of faith.

About 25 years ago, I had a decent job at a major university.  Both my wife and I just sort of felt that it was time for a change and to move back closer to family.  I'd spent my life in academia so it seemed iffy and strange to go get a job in industry.  It worked out fine and we've been here since.  We just had this sense that it was time to change.

I stayed at one job for about 20 years.  It was very frustrating at times and I felt like leaving at times.  I had few good offers with good well-known tech companies, but just felt I was not supposed to take them.  When it was time to go, God made it really clear.  The situation became intolerable (and the entire team I was on was looking for jobs and leaving).  A couple days before I gave notice that I was leaving for a new job (which was where I strongly felt called toward), there was a company-wide meeting about the imminent closing of that location.  As it turns out, staying with this company gave me a good niche skill set that few people have.

One church transition was different.  I was just sitting in church one day and had a sense we weren't supposed to be there anymore.  There was nothing wrong, we liked the pastor, things were fine, I just had a sense of needing to leave.  I prayed and just asked God if it was Him that my whole family would feel the same.  The next week driving home from church, my wife and kids all started talking about how maybe we should start looking for another church.  It was interesting because about a half-dozen other families left about the same time.  There was nothing wrong in particular we were aware of or had problems with, but something was up spiritually speaking.

The next job (at a Christian non-profit) lasted about 18 months.  It was a dream job for about a year.  It then became so toxic I couldn't handle it any more.  Again a situation where my entire team ended up being pushed out.  I got great experience from that job that I am also converting into a consulting business.  The bottom line is that God was pushing me toward semi-retirement at that point and starting my own consulting business.  If things hadn't gotten so bad and pushed me to the point of collapse, I'd have planned on staying there for another decade or so, or would have immediately tried to find another job.  As it was, we had a big rainy day fund.  We both decided that this was a rainy day and I needed to take time off.  The reality was that I needed close to a year off to get back to normal.  I had gotten so used to running at high stress levels I had forgotten what normal felt like.

I'm now in the process of getting a PT consulting business going.  I had a nice consulting gig with the old 20 year company that resulted in COBRA coverage for health insurance through 2018 for us.  Bottom line is that God is taking care of us.  I've been having some time to start writing some books and doing stuff that I'd have pushed off for another decade.  

The general observation I've made is that leaps of faith are usually toward new things and new adventures; not escaping things.  God's way of getting me out of a rut is to put a big boulder in it. :)   Each time we did a major transition, no regrets later.  

So with regard to leap of faith or not, it's hard to tell the difference at times.  Ultimately, each time for us , it boiled down to a sense of spiritual peace about the decision on the part of both myself and my wife.

 

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Thanks for sharing your experiences.  I'm glad things worked out for you.

The odd thing is that throughout my life I've prayed to God for guidance in different situations and don't usually feel a strong pull one way or the other so I often feel unsure about what he wants me to do.  I end up asking other people's opinions (which may vary) and still don't know which way to go.  Some people say "God told me to do this"....but I never get that feeling....despite constant prayers about what to do.    

 

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On 1/31/2018 at 2:30 PM, Shy Christian said:

In a nutshell, we are tired of living in our cold weather climate and started talking about moving cross country to where it's warmer, plus there's no chance of hurricanes.  We have other family in the state we'd be moving to.

Neither one of us has ever earned a lot of money but our current home is paid for (although not worth much) and we're used to living thriftily.  However, I lost my job a few months ago and am only collecting unemployment which will run out in a few more months.  I'm having difficulty finding a new job locally so I can anticipate it would be that much harder in a different state.  If we move, we would want to rent before jumping into buying something, but again we're not used to paying anything for housing.  We have some money in investments but don't want to deplete that just to pay rent.  We really want to get out of this climate and have been praying but are still torn and undecided.  How do you know if/when to "take the plunge" and trust that God will let everything work out or whether you're just making a stupid move (no pun intended)?   

 

Well it reads like you have a choice to move or eventually to freeze to death in the dark while hungry. This is a choice?

You might consider not selling, but instead renting what you already own as you venture out to see what the rest of the world holds for you. 

God has sent me across country three times. I learned that  a house kept is an asset hard to come by again if it is once sold. I managed to keep one and I sold yet another. I can and have returned to the one, while I could never afford to buy that other one again. The one I bought for $60,000  is today a $400,000 item, while the other I bought for $24,600 Is a $700,000 dollar item today. If you can make it happen, buy and hold! If you can't, well sometimes you just have to face the real price of a move and go for it too.

 My family left cold cold  New England for warm Southern California. I left warm Southern California for Hot Florida. And had to go back to Southern California for awhile before being able to return to Florida again. Now I am able to be in position to even  go for a place in the mountains on a lake at North Carolina. It all has come hard, at  heavy price each step, never easy, never without cost in  comfort at the moment, but it came to serve God's good purpose in my own life. 

How could I tell if it was God or my own folly? In truth I couldn't look ahead and see clearly. Though in one situation, I had visions for six deeply depressing months of where I was to go before I caved and went to see the vision was a reality. I needed to go, to what I still did not know; but I can see it clearly looking back.

What was both folly and what was wisdom was all planned for me by God for my long term benefit, my further sanctification. None of it was for my immediate comfort, nor prosperity of my flesh.

May God be with you as you make your own  decision.

 

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