Skip to content
Prayer Coach Prayer Coach : prayer guides : personal prayers : Update On My Stepping Out In Faith

Update On My Stepping Out In Faith

    The beginning of this year I shared my current story of stepping out in faith. Today is time to share the rest of the story. Why today? Why is six months later time to share this update?

    Today my wife and I went to court to finalize our bankruptcy.

    I know what you are thinking. What the heck? If this is the result to trusting God, why would I take the risk?

    “Christianity isn’t boring; Christians are boring. It’s like we’ve been invited to go cliff jumping. We go to the cliff. We look over the edge. But, we never jump. Christianity is only boring if you never jump.” – Banning Liebscher

    At the beginning of the year, I felt God leading me to leave my job to trust Him with something new. I didn’t know what He was calling me into; I only knew that first step. Over the last six months I have started my own business helping companies find new customers and increase sales. This has mainly been in online marketing but has also included strategies for the brick and mortar.

    Most of these stories of stepping out in faith you will hear, will tell of a rough start and then God coming through at the last minute. My families story got the first half right. I met with several companies and individuals and left encouraged each time of God’s calling for me. However, over the first six month’s I received one client and burned through savings.

    The burn was aggravated because we still owned a home in another state that wouldn’t sell. That mortgage plus the rent for where we lived made up a large monthly expense. I asked God if I was to look for part-time work, and felt I was not to pursue those options. As May ended, the pressure of the dual payments created enough red flags to push even harder on the options of unloading the house.

    As my wife prayed, she felt God talking to her about bankruptcy. As I looked into foreclosure, I realized that bankruptcy was a necessary step to get out from underneath the loss of equity on the house. The exact word Allison heard for us was that the bankruptcy would be His supernatural provision for us. Some times it hard to believe the still small voice is God’s, but in this case we chose to believe.

    As we applied for bankruptcy, we realized we needed to get our finances down to an obscenely low amount because of  the assets we had in our cars. In God’s goodness He had been depleting our bank accounts for several months to where we had just the right amount of money at the time of filing for bankruptcy.

    The very next day after filing for bankruptcy I was contacted for two jobs. One was on-going part-time that would cover our monthly expenses. The other would put some money back into savings with the potential of future work. Since that time I have picked up another job and have two strong potential jobs that may come soon.

    Wouldn’t it have been easier for God to sell the house?

    Absolutely! We had been praying for the house to sell. We had no idea when the process started that this was the way He wanted us to unload the house. That’s the thing about God… His ways are not like our ways (Isaiah 55:8). He knows what we need and in His pleasure He will meet them in His ways.

    The choice is ours. Will we hold God to come through in our ways or will we trust Him for whatever He wants to do. God is good. As for me and my family, we will trust He is big enough to cover all our needs and He loves it when you trust Him.

    17 thoughts on “Update On My Stepping Out In Faith”

    1. Amazing story, wow I must continue to seek.. I must first hear the still small voice.. I’m fasting to get to where my spirit is sensitive to that voice .. So that I may hear it

      1. One of the greatest hinderances of hearing His voice is doubt. Give yourself the grace to get it wrong. God loves to speak because He loves you. He wants you to hear Him. I would suggest that you journal as you fast. Ask God questions and write down whatever comes to your mind. You will have plenty of time after to finish to prayerfully consider if it from God. I feel that you hear from God more than you are aware. Journaling will begin to boast your confidence in hearing. I pray confidence in you that you can hear God’s voice because He wants to speak to you.

        Blessings,
        Kevin

    2. Wow, Kevin. I’ve been waiting for this update and I can honestly say, this is NOT what I wanted to hear. However, it challenges me to trust God in such a different way that what is generally taught and for that I thank you for your willingness to share it. I knew this already but it is refreshing to hear it from someone else. I would try to explain why things didnt work out as a lack of faith or maybe I heard wrong and even me forfeiting what God said i could have perhaps due to some unconfessed or secret sin. Inwardly, I felt that perhaps this WAS God’s plan, no matter how much I wished it wasn’t. I gain courage from your story and mind that God’s way truly is what’s best since He does it with full knowledge and perfect love.

      1. Thank you for your comments. I did have some reservations about writing this because people’s conceptions about bankruptcy. I went ahead for those it would be helpful for, which I’m glad for your comments. Too often we categorize things as being from God or not without giving Him a chance to weigh in His thoughts. Even though this would not have been my path I feel I’m where God wants me.

        Thank you also for your interest. I didn’t mean to keep you so long. Please feel free to let me know what you would like to hear about. You can leave it in comments to the blog, comments on the Facebook page, or tweets to @Prayer_Coach.

    3. Hey Kevin,

      I just happened on your blog through Facebook as a friend of Steve Hopper. I know you don’t know me from the next guy, but I hope you will hear what I have to say.

      I am a little confused by this post. While it does seem like God came through at just the right time, what about all the decisions that led up to that point?

      I sensed a lot of “we felt led” or “we got a word” types of reasoning behind your decisions. Where was scripture in this process? Where was the principle to avoid debt at all costs (Prov 22:7, Prov 6:1-5)? Where was the principle to provide for your family first (1 Timothy 5:8) while you were refusing jobs that would put food on the table? Where was the principle to let your yes be yes and your no be no on the agreements you signed to pay for your house and other debts (Matt 5:37, James 5:12)? Where was the idea that a godly man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children while you were burning through all of your savings (Proverbs 13:22)?

      In your analogy and quote of “jumping off a cliff,” I am reminded of Satan’s temptation to Jesus to jump off the temple, but Christ responds with scripture “You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.” God has come through and provided for you as he promised, but it sure looks like you broke a lot of principles on the way there…

      I would encourage you to search the scriptures AND look for God’s leading through prayer…but also through wise council and biblical principles. I don’t know your situation, and I may be way off base, but I’m not sure we’re glorifying God by going back on our promises (bankruptcy).

      If I’m right, I pray that you would accept this word as from scripture. If I’m not, then may you quickly forget it, and may God continue to watch over your family as you seek to serve Him.

      Godspeed,
      Mark

      1. Dear Mark,

        I appreciate your comment. While I hear your love for Scripture and doctrine, I don’t feel it for me. In fact I feel scolded without the desire to understand.

        When Job’s friends came around him, they offered what seemed to be good advice. God, however, was doing something no of them could see. Why was all of the trouble brought on Job? Because God liked him and was showing off how great Job was.

        While the Bible is great and wonderful, it does not replace a relationship with God. We are to follow Him. All of the Dave Ramsey Scriptures are great when you are not sure God’s leading, but we must not let them be what hinders us from obeying when He speaks.

        Peter initially refused to eat the meal he was shown in a vision. The Pharisees hated Jesus for breaking the Sabbath. Gideon put the lives of the Israelites in jeopardy by sending away thousands of fighting men in his army. God’s ways are not like ours.

        You used some pointed words as you compared me to Satan, spoiling my children’s inheritance, keeping food from my family’s table, and reneging on my promises. Be careful that your love of the Bible does not trump your adherence to the greatest commandment – loving God and others. Even if all of your concerns are true, I would encourage you to think through your presentation to help lovingly correct.

        I have no doubt that you have a strong desire to please God. May God richly bless the hours you have invested in the Scripture by giving you deep encounters with the One who wrote it. Matt. 11:28

        Thanks again for your comment,
        Kevin

        1. Hey Kevin,

          Please forgive me for my harsh tone and for not following Ephesians 4:29 (building you up). I realize now I spoke too hastily; I should have prayed over my words and chosen them more carefully before commenting.

          I have a feeling that our approaches to “hearing God” are very different. When I encounter someone with such different beliefs as mine, I tend to judge them too quickly. I don’t know your situation, and I have to assume that you are following God and doing the best to provide for your family.

          I have many thoughts on your reply, but perhaps they are better said in a different forum. If you’re interested in chatting about them, I’d be very happy to do so. Hearing different viewpoints always sharpens my views, my relationship with God, and my desire to know His word better.

          My God help you to see the “meat” of what I said and spit out the “bones”. And may God continue to provide for you and your family.

          Godspeed,
          Mark
          http://www.facebook.com/themasons08

          1. Dear Mark,

            Thank you for your response. As I said before, I believe that you have a strong desire to please God, and this response encourages that viewpoint.

            While I will not be able to follow-up offline on this subject, most of your potential questions will be addressed on this site as it contains hundreds of articles laying out my views. The search function should be able to lead you to those specific views. Also Steve is also a good friend of mine. He knows my thoughts well and can be a great resource for you.

            If there are still specific questions, you can contact me through email or on the contact form here: http://prayer-coach.com/kevin-shorter/. If there are specific areas you wish to disagree on, you can bring them up on the topics. I’m open to addressing differences in the form of a discussion.

            Since this site is not a revenue generator for me, I have to limit my time I devote to it. Your questions can become great topics for future blog posts since your questions could also very well be the same as others.

            Thanks again for your response. Let me know how you would like to proceed.

            Kevin

            1. Thanks Kevin,

              Steve and I chatted this morning and he shared some thoughts with me that helped. I’ll let you know if I have any more questions.

              Godspeed,
              Mark

      2. Mark,

        sounds all good and pretty, however, obviously you
        haven’t gone the extra mile with God. And, I might be
        judging you, however, Kevin is a good friend of mine
        and yes, you DON’t know his situation, so before you
        give any “Chrisian” advice, you should just chill out and
        pray for the guy!

      Leave a Reply

      Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *