Bible Verses & Unemployment Articles / United States Date: Mar 15, 2009 - 09:35 AM |
|
Many of us have expenienced the dire straights of unemployment. Whether it was due to staff cut-backs, corporate down-sizing, termination for cause or any other reason, the loss of a job can be a devestating experience. But we can move forward. After all, it's not the end of the world. Now, these are not just empty words as I have personally felt the scimitar of down-sizing sevaral times in my work career. Each one was a very sobering event, as our home, way of life and children all depended on my ability to "bring home the bacon" to support us. If a got "a bite" (that is, if a potential employer expressed an interest in my skills), I would promptly call and arrange for the interview as soon as possible. I was somehow very successful when it came to answer classified ads in newspapers. I believe this was because I had an ability to read and understand what a potential employer was looking for when they posted their ad. For instance, if a company indicated in its ad that it needed a professional that could manage the installation of a new HRS that would track payroll, employee benefits, attendance, etc., my response would clearly state that I had accomplished each of those specific concerns quite recently. As you can probably see, a potential employer would read my response to their ad and say to themselves, "Hmm. This guy just indicated tht he solved the very same problems we are trying to solve right here at our company. Let's invite him in and see if he really can help us."And, perhaps even more importantly, I realized that it was up to me to prove to said employer that I could solve a problem or problems for them. You see, it's what we can do for an employer rather than what they can do for us that's so very important when looking for a job. Keep this thought as you proceed with your job search. I personaly found the best way to battle unemployment was to get right back into the game. That is, to begin a full-time effort to find a new job. I would scour newspapers, spend hours on the internet, make phone calls and send out resume after resume, all in the hope of uncovering that elusive commodity called employment. If I received "a bite" (that is, if an employer expressed an interest in my skills), I would immediately contact that entity and set up a job interview. My best foot, so to speak, would naturally be extended during the interview: I'd arrive on time, be dressed impeccably, have materials with me showing that I was able to do the job (copy of resume, charts, graphs, etc.) and well versed in the company I was interviewing with. But the couple of paragraphs you just read are merely a segue, a lead-in to what I really wanted to share with you today in this blog. As you may be able to relate, if you are/were unemplyed to probably are worried. Bills, financial difficulties and what tomorrow may bring are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what may worry us in this trying period of our life. But, there is hope. Once again, I speak from experience. In my times of trouble, when unemployed as well as other times in my life when the weight of the world seemed to be too much for me, I turned to a source that has been inspirational to countless folks over many centuries...the bible. Thousands of pages long, this book was written by numerous authors over a period of many, many years. It has one common theme: God's love for us. I have personally read "The Book" as it's sometimes known from cover-to-cover several times. Each time, I'm comforted by the fact that there are passages that seem to have been written just for me. Strange that Go would have had the foresight to do that for me, isn't it? All joking aside, He's done that for you, too. I'd like to share some of my favorite bible passages with you. Along with them I'll also provide a commentary as to what they mean specifically to me, how they helped me through the crisis in life I was facing. Each of my favorite bible passage will be highlighted in bol-faced type so if you're busy you can scan through 'em and see if there's one that's particularly pertinent to your situation. I'd like to start my quotes with a passage that was given to me about eleven years ago when I had just been terminated from a job I'd held for a couple of years. Sitting at the desk that was about to be vacated by my person in about an hour, I remember placing a call to a business associate named Winston. I knew Winston was a deeply religious individual as our conversations had, at times, reached on topics other than those that were, well, business-oriented (at least in the Wall Street sense of the term). Winston answered his phone and we exchanged pleasantries. Within a minute or two, I mentioned that I was leaving the position I had formerly held and would most probably no longer be conversing with him, at least on the professional level we had previously engaged in. Winston expressed his heart-felt sympathy for me. I recall he mentioned he had gone through a similar experience only a couple of years ago himself. It was then that he said to me, "You know, this is not the end of the world. As a matter of fact, there's a passage in the bible I'd like to share with you that addresses what has just happened to you." And here is what Winston shared with me: For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. The New King James Version. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1996, c1982, S. Jeremiah 29:11-12 Read that again. Now, think about what the Lord had the author, Jeremiah, record for all eternity-that He, the Lord has plans for you. His thoughts and plans are of peace. So, although we may be facing trails ahead, the road we are traveling on is not an evil one. He has plans for us. Can we know the thoughts of God? Do we dare to think that what we know might in any way be more insightful than what He does? And that part about having a future for us...I guess He does know what's that's going to happen to us; the fact that He mentioned a hope alao means there'ssomething to look firward to. Think this through just a little bit more, since it's coming from Him, it's simply got to be something that's good. I should 'fess up here. I constantly feel that what I want, when I want it as well as why I need something surpasses anything that God knows about. How could He possibly understand that at the time I was unemployed, that this in turn could have led to financial ruin for me and my family, that bills were piling up and creditors were about to take drastic actions against me. Didn't He listen; Didn't he hear me? What did or does He know about unemployment? Why, did He even have a job at all? This is where the concept of faith comes into play, folks. It's a real tough one for me, I gotta admit. Trust in Someone when it seems lime the roof is caving in, that the world as we know it is about to change? Come on! How could He let this catastrophe happen to me and my family? Trust-a word that appears about 125 times in the bible. What a word. Why I bet it's closely related to that other word that's mentioned so many times in the bible. By now you might know the word I'm alluding to is faith. I just did a quick search for the word faith in a bible search tool I have and it turned up 244 times. And that doesn't include faithful that appears another 85 times or faithfulness that ticks in with an additional 27 times. So, trust and faith...what are these all about? We're asked to trust in God, to have faith in Him during our times of crisis. In fact, one of my favorite Psalms has a verse that says: "I want to you to trust in me in your times of trouble so I can recue you and you can give me glory." Interestingly enough, I found practically these same words in yet another Psalm, reiterating that the Lord wants us to "trust in him when times are tough so He can rescue us." Continuation... When I started writing this article last weekend, I indicated that I would continue with other bible verses that have been inspirational to me. I have to admit, when I shared with you the one from Jeremiah up above, I immediately had to my commentary about what it meant to me. This, in turn, effectively prevented me from sharing with you the other verses I love so much. So, with that said, I've decided to list all the verese I love and then write about them at a later time. Without further ado, let's see the verses: "God has given each of you some sp,/i>ecial abilities; be sure you use them to help each other." 1 Peter 4:10 "So if you are suffering according to God's will, keep on doing what is right and trust yourself to the God who made you, for he will never fail you." 1 Peter 4:19 "If you want to know what God wants you to do, as Him, and He will gladly tell you, forHe is alwaus willing to give a bountiful supply of wisdom to all who ask Him." James 1:5 "I will never, never fail you or forsake you." Hebrews 13:5 "What is faith? It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead." Hebrews 11:1 "May God the father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you rich blessings and peace-filled hearts and minds." 2 Thessalonians 2 "Don't be weary in arayer; keep at it, watch for God's answers and remember to be thankful when they come." Collosians 4:2 "Tell God your needs and don't forget to thank Him for His answers. If you do this you will experience GGod's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace willkeep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Jesus Christ." Philippians 4:6-7 I am with you; that is all you need. My power shoes up best in weak people." 2 Corinthians:9 "God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, then prophecy whenever you can-as often as your faith is strng enough to receive a message from God. If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching. If you are a preacher, see to it that you sermins are strong and helpful. If God has given you money, be generous in helping others with it. If God has given you administrative ability and put you in charge of the work of others, take the responsibility seriously." Romans 12:6-8 "You can ask for anything, using My name, and I will do it, for this will bring praise to the Father because of what I, the Son, will do for you. Yes, ask anything, using My name, and I will do it." John 14:13-14 I will be quoting more inspirational verses on how God is looking out for our interests as well as providing my personal, emotional commentaries on His word at a later date. At this time I wanted you to have them now to read, to study, think about. These are the words of God, my friends. He guided the hands of the writers who put these words on papyrus thousands of years ago; none are false, all are true. Read them and believe. Feel free to link to this web site, tell your friends, acquaintances and family about Netscrapes.com. Although I'll be diligently working on this particular article over the next few days/weeks, I'm also planning on writing about marriage later. This will be an interesting exercize because my readings in the bible really haven't centered around this topic. But, there's sure to be many passages that address the institution that so many of us experience. Please come back for more. This work in progress will be continued...I promise once again. |
|
This article comes from Netscrapes.com http://www.netscrapes.com/ The URL for this story is: http://www.netscrapes.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=302 |