I had been actively looking for a new job since early fall of the previous year. Anticipating leaving Chrysler, I signed a six-month lease on a home in Detroit that was up June 30, 1980. It was early February, and nothing was happening. I was getting worried and upset. Maybe I was wrong, and God didn’t want me to leave Chrysler.
Thursday morning, February 7, on my way to work at about 6:30, I pulled into the parking lot of the Birmingham airport. I had heard of people who when wanting guidance from God would pull out their Bibles, open them randomly, and put a finger on a verse. I pulled out my Bible thinking to myself, “This is crazy.”
I laid the Bible on my lap, closed my eyes, and opened it, placing my finger on a verse. It was resting on John 14:1, “Do not be worried or upset…believe in God, and believe also in me.”
But I was worried and upset. We had to be out of our home by June 30. But there needed to be a time schedule. If I don’t have a job by such-and-such-a-date, it is a sign I am to stay with Chrysler. If I don’t have a new job within 60 days, I stay with Chrysler.
I raced to my office and pulled out a calendar. But it didn’t make sense. Sixty days would be Sunday, April 8, 1980. No one is going to offer you a new job on a weekend. I circled Friday, April 6. If I didn’t have a new job by then I would take it as a sign I was to stay at Chrysler. This would give me six weeks to buy a home in Detroit before my lease expired. It was that simple, right? Wrong!
Paul wrote to the Galatians “Let the Holy Spirit guide your lives.” Galatians 5:16 (NLT)
God wants to play an active role in our lives. Read the God of Hope book to find out more about His plan for His people.
It was Tuesday, March 4 when my boss, Frank Hoag, the Detroit Regional Manger, called me into his office. We were to meet with Hank Savoy, his boss, the Central Area Manger for Chrysler, that afternoon. He informed me that I was to be offered the job opportunity of a lifetime. What was God doing? The timing was bad. There were still 33 days until April 6.
(To be continued in “Committing Career Suicide”)