Unemployed? Did you get the Memo?

We all have experiences in our lives that seem extreme or difficult. God allows us to wander in wildernesses - sometimes of our own making, sometimes not. Whether we have lost our jobs because of the bad economy, company restructuring, or some fault of our own, we can find ourselves out in the circumstance of unemployment, a place of loneliness, confusion, doubt, and fear - a wilderness of emotion and dryness of spirit.

I've been a follower of Jesus Christ for over forty years. Like the people of Israel I've wandered in a wilderness of testing and trials, often as a result of my own actions. I've been unemployed for three significant periods in my career. The longest of these was twenty-five months in duration. During those many months of calling out to God and trying to walk through the experience in dependent fellowship with Him, I learned a lot about myself and my own faith. And I learned a lot about the Lord and what He expected from me on the long and lonely road through unemployment.

I knew God was totally able to find me a new job and connect me with the perfect person to move me into that opportunity. If He could speak the cosmos into existence He could blink a new job into existence without breaking a sweat. But He didn't. Why? I spent many, many hours in prayer and searching the scriptures for answers.

I wanted God to speak to me and explain what He was doing and what He wanted from me. Then one day I was speaking with a Christian friend and discussing my situation. I said, "I wish God would just send me a memo explaining what's going on." And I realized He had done just that. His word, the Bible, is a memo of the most complete kind.

They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region; 

They did not find a way to an inhabited city. 

They were hungry and thirsty; Their soul fainted within them. 

Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; 

He delivered them out of their distresses. 

He led them also by a straight way, To go to an inhabited city. 

Let them give thanks to the Lord for His loving kindness, 

And for His wonders to the sons of men! 

For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, 

And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good. 

Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;

He saved them out of their distresses. 

He sent His word and healed them, 

And delivered them from their destructions. 

Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness, 

And for His wonders to the sons of men! 

Psalm 107:4-9,19-21 (New American Standard Bible Updated)

Verse twenty, above, says God sent His word and I had it open in front of me all during my own wilderness wandering through unemployment. I just needed to read it with hungry eyes and an open heart and God would speak to me through its pages. God has "an inhabited city" for each of us in the form of a job. All we must do is follow where His word leads to discover all that God, in His lovingkindness towards us, has for us.

I am counting on the Lord; yes, I am counting on him. 

I have put my hope in his word. 

Psalm 130:5 (New Living Translation)