This Was a No-Brainer
The only decision easier than this was whether I should dump my car – worth only $2,000 – after the mechanic told me it would cost $2,500 to fix multiple fluid leaks.
I had just officially been offered the position of Georgia Hospital Association (GHA) Executive Vice President and had an hour to decide whether to accept. All the lights were brightly blinking, “Yes, yes. Take the job already!” I had never seen so many things line up so clearly.
Let me back up. Last time I described the demoralizing circumstances surrounding my departure from Providence Hospital. But God used that process to teach that, despite whatever talents I might have, I’m not doing him any favors by serving him.
I also described that through some unusual circumstances, I got an attractive job at the Hospital Council of Western Michigan (HCWM) where I was able to help propel the organization forward in dramatic ways. In fact, when I announced my departure, a colleague asked me if I thought the association could survive without me. The contrast between my reputations at the two organizations illustrates how you can be a dog in one company and a hero at another.
After five years at HCWM, an executive search consultant contacted me about the GHA job. Here’s how everything leading up to the offer lined up:
The previous spring, I had attended – in a last-minute decision – a conference in Phoenix where I met a GHA senior executive who was impressed enough with me to recommend me as a possible candidate for the GHA job. This set the whole thing in motion.
The GHA job would be a perfect next career step for me.
My qualifications exactly matched the job requirements.
A month before my interview, a senior Michigan healthcare leader in-the-know ominously told me he expected HCWM to fold within a few years.
GHA was a well-respected association and, unlike HCWM, was on firm financial ground.
A few weeks before my interview, I happened to see a GHA newsletter on top of the incoming mail pile at HCWM. That was the first and last time I ever saw anything from GHA in our mail. The newsletter helped tremendously with my interview prep. (This was pre-Internet, so there was no easy way to research the group.)
The GHA newsletter included a list of its board members. On my flight to Atlanta, as I thumbed through a Modern Healthcare trade magazine, I saw an article announcing the indictment of a Georgia hospital executive on fraud charges. From the newsletter, I recognized him as a GHA board member. The GHA president looked stunned when I asked during the interview if there had been any fallout from one of his board members being indicted. How could I possibly have known that? (Answer: God’s grace.)
The real estate market in Michigan was a seller’s market while Atlanta’s was a buyer’s market.
The capstone “coincidence” was the official job offer. My wife Annette and I had just discussed how much it would take to make the move worthwhile. I couldn’t believe it when the search consultant told me salary. It was exactly the number we had identified!
Needless to say, I took the job, which started a wonderful 19-year stint at GHA.
I am relating the details of this job transition to demonstrate God’s occasional dramatic intervention in our lives. I say “occasional” because he typically expects us to trust him because of his character, not based on flashy circumstances.
As 21st century Western-culture Christians, it’s easy for us to not expect God’s active involvement in my life. That attitude borders on deism, a religious view teaching that, although God created everything, he essentially walked away and lets the world run by itself. But this position ignores Jesus’ self-description as the good shepherd who lovingly cares for his flock. Although I shouldn’t dictate to God what he must do, I shouldn’t be surprised when – as in this case – he intervenes in an unmistakable way.
Perhaps it’s been a while since you’ve seen God act dramatically in your life. If so, I urge you not to forget that God loves his children. Most of the time he wants you to trust him, not because of his miraculous involvement in your life but because of who he is. But sometimes – like in this case – he does do something remarkable to remind us that he’s still there and still active. And that’s awesome!
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Do you think the circumstances I mentioned were really from God rather than being mere coincidences?
What’s the most dramatic thing you have seen God do in your life?
To what extent do you tend to doubt God’s love if it’s been a while since he’s done something remarkable for you?
“In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight” – Proverbs 3:6