Bills.

They have a funny way of causing one’s life to change.

Most people would get a job, and I did. In Michigan! That might not seem like a stretch for someone in Michigan, but I lived in Spokane, Washington. In today’s world, you have to go where the work is and that was what I had set out to do.

The only problem was that I knew without a shadow of a doubt that this was not God’s perfect will. It certainly fell within the scope of His permissible will but somehow it was not part of His greater plan.

Given my stress level and the failing Real Estate market in Spokane, my wife and I decided to move ahead anyway. So in April 2010 I boarded a plane and headed for Michigan while my bride of 3 years remained behind to sell off almost all our worldly possessions and take care of other pressing business matters.

Not sure if you’ve ever operated within the scope of God’s permissible will instead of His perfect will but that was what we choose to do. See, the difference between preferred and perfect is that when you are in God’s perfect will you are right where He wants you to be. With the permissive option you have not left His arms but His divine plans. For me, this became quite a stressful proposition.

Not to worry though, I just had to remind Him frequently that there really was no other option. Little did I, know.

Anyway, as I began working with as an SEO Digital Specialist with the team in Michigan life was good. The pay was decent, the work was right on the line of any true online marketer and the temporary housing was more than anyone could really ask for other than the fact that it was so temporary.

Combining that with the fact that I deeply missed my bride and continued to have this overwhelming feeling that I was operating outside of God’s perfect will which began to plague me day in and day out. I got so agitated during this period about my plight that I actually quit my job.

In Michigan, without a job and my wife back home, what was I… nuts?

Richard, the guy I was working for, sat me down before I left and asked point blank what my options were.

I had none.

So before I had a chance to fully make my exit we agreed that I would stay on and continue serving him as his Online Digital Marketer. Never-the-less, I still had this nagging conviction that I was not operating in the perfect will of God.

I took up residence with a friend from church named Gail while waiting for my precious bride to arrive. Those were hard times.

I #Missed My #Bride Bad Click To Tweet

We talked every day and some days I cried from pure outright loneliness. I’d gone through both death and divorce with previous spouses, but being without my love simply because we were in different states was incredibly new to me. New and unpleasant both.

Finally, the day came.

The cell phone dialogs commenced as I was receiving moment by moment proximity reports of how close she was getting to where I lived. Anticipation mounted into excitement which exploded into pure joy when I was at last able to hold my Irene in my arms once again.

She arrived in our burnt orange Ford Focus which contained most all our earthly possessions including my sweet Sassy cat. Okay, so if you name a cat Sassy there must be a reason. I still consider her sweet despite her sassy little self. She’s been through a lot with me since 2001, including a couple of times when I thought I’d never see her again. But here she was. Here they both were. Boy, was I happy!

Never-the-less, I still knew I was not in the perfect will of God but certainly didn’t know what to do about the matter now.

One day I was driving down to the store to pick-up some Tylenol PM to see if it would help me sleep better. I’d been having trouble sleeping. A lot of trouble. Serious trouble.

I was talking to God as I do when He spoke back.

No, it was not an audible voice but more of a mental impression. He had marching orders for me.

Prepare your family to move to Texas. TEXAS???!!!

I’m sure there are people that love Texas, I’m just not one of them. It would be kin to Siberia. I knew absolutely no one in Texas.

There was no secure job prospect in Texas.

No #living arrangements existed for us in #Texas. Click To Tweet

Now I knew I was losing it. Not only would Texas be the last place in the world this Online Marketer would ever move, I somehow thought God was behind the suggestion.

So I did what any logical thinking Online Marketer would do in a struggling economy. I put the idea clear outside of my head.

It didn’t stay there though.

Actually, it woke me in the night and I wasn’t able to get back to sleep. It, being God’s marching orders to move to Texas.

Let me say right here that I’ve never seen greener more beautiful grass than in Michigan. The lakes there are also quite amazing as are the people I met. Now I was going to give up my stability to move to, to Texas? I wouldn’t do it.

A funny thing happens when you strive to live within the will of God and yet refuse to follow His calling. He removes His peace, or at least He did for me.

And like any rebellious young child, I fought back with everything I had. But without the peace of God, I’m literally a basket case. So eventually I gave up and agreed to move to Texas.

It was at about that time that something would happen which showed me we really needed the finances and I could not leave Michigan. That’s why I would rescind my agreement with God and reposition myself for staying in Michigan. This would result in His peace being taken away again and there I was once again, stuck.

This went on day after day about a couple of months till my resolve was completely worn away. Reluctantly, I approached my boss and advised him that my wife and I were moving to Texas.

Texas? Yes, Texas.

Do you have family there, he asked? Nope.

Do you have a job, a house, anything? Nope.

Then why would you move to Texas?

Because I’ve been given marching orders by the God I serve and I must follow was my response. I’m quite certain he thought I was nuts at that point. If he didn’t, I certainly did.

He did try to convince me to stay like he did when I first arrived, but this time my resolve was strong. I had operated long enough outside of the perfect will of God. While the preferred will of God may be easier, there is nothing quite like living within the perfect will of God.

So there they were. Richard and the rest of the office team all bidding my cat, my wife and I farewell in our little-burnt orange Ford Focus. It must have been quite a sight.

Coming Up

Go Back To The Last Chapter

Chapter 2 – Charting God’s Course – COMING NEXT

Future Chapters Include But Are Not Limited To

Chapter 3: Not Again God – COMING SOON

Chapter 4: Hooker for God – COMING SOON

Guy Siverson

Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at ViralTNTeam

My mission is to deliver high quality online marketing information that you can easily grow your business by. Please use the comments below to ask about points I missed, provide further thoughts of wisdom or request new topics for me to cover. Thanks in advance. I look forward to being your one stop shop for all things related to the online marketing niche.