Unemployment = Discouragement?
“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” (NIV)
Hebrews 10:35-36
“Laid off”. “Unemployed”. The words are becoming more and more familiar as the economy (that our government insists is getting better) keeps wiping out jobs. If what I have heard is correct there are at least three men on our little portion of the block underemployed or unemployed. We know a few others. No job seems secure right now.
Back in the days of numerous corporate takeovers in the nineties, I remember when people were laid off due to “downsizing”. One close friend went through this so I saw her pain first hand. Even though the lay-off was not because of incompetence or any sign of irresponsibility on her part, she was devastated – even with a nice severance package.
The days of nice severance packages are over. Especially small companies just don’t have the money. Even local government and union jobs that were once considered untouchable are being hit. More and more aid in the form of unemployment and welfare benefits is going to more and more people.
What is the unemployed Christian to do? I never like to give Satan too much credit but the more I see the discouragement that is hitting the ranks of unemployed Christians I wonder what he is plotting to destroy? “Unemployed” is not a term any man likes to hear used to describe him. Discouragement is a human response we might expect if the situation goes on for a long time. Will God use it? Will Satan take advantage of it?
Discouragement, if left unchecked will turn into full-fledged, clinical depression. Clichés are not always reassuring and the Christian has many. “God has a plan.” “He knows what He’s doing.” “You will be better off in the long run.” “He will never leave you nor forsake you.” “You are fearfully and wonderfully made.” “His ways are higher than our ways.” Sometimes these are encouraging to the discouraged but when no job comes, they may get tired of hearing the promises. We may need to be silent and listen to their pain, or their hopes.
The truth is that nothing that happens to us is outside of the sight of God and I would guess that every unemployed Christian already knows that. They know that God can even use evil for good in our lives. The question for them seems to be more like, “when will He fix it?” Hunt and search as they will, jobs are few.
So, when a lot of prayer, a lot of on-line searching, and a lot of stomping the pavements have not paid off, what is the Christian to do? The words of Hebrews 10:35 -36 really hit me this morning. “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.”
Is it another verse that fails to encourage the discouraged? I hope not. God is saying that our confidence has to be in Him. Even in our discouragement, HE does not change. Our hope in all things, finding a job, calling back a prodigal child, who will win the election, and what will happen to our investments – all of these, are in His hands. If we lose the confidence we have in Him and the gifts He has given us, our hopes are lost. (Discouraged or depressed people have a harder time convincing an employer they are hirable.)
Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosperyou and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Every Christian has this future and this hope planned by God. It is in Him. He is where our confidence needs to be invested.
There are no easy answers to the dilemmas that are facing Americans today. As Christians, we know God has put us here “for such a time as this”. If we want to influence our culture our message needs to be sure and full of hope – especially for and from the umemployed Christian. It is God’s plan for man that he would work. How and when He will provide that work is in His hands.