Doesn’t God Care?

Being unemployed is scary! Things are happening over which we have no control. We can feel helpless and worthless as more and more employers decide we're not right for their job openings.

This desperate fear can even occur to those of us who consider ourselves Christians. We go to church, we pray, we try to live a God-pleasing life, we may even read our Bibles. But here we are - unemployed. This isn't supposed to happen to us. We're supposed to be God's people - His blessed. What's going on? We are in this terrible predicament, scared, and suffering. Doesn't God care? Why doesn't He do something?

There was a time in the New Testament when the disciples felt the same way. In Mark 4:35-40 they found themselves in a boat, at sea, in a fierce storm. Why were they there? Because Jesus told them to be there (vs. 36). It was a dangerous situation. Some of them were professional fishermen and they were scared (vs. 35). And where was Jesus? He was with them. But He was asleep! As a Christian you know Jesus is with you but do you ever think He's asleep - or just not paying attention? The apostles did. In fact, they came to Him and woke Him up with an accusation. The same accusation we can express when we're going through the storm of unemployment. "Lord, don't You care that we are perishing?"

If they would have stopped and thought about it, they would have figured out that they were right where Christ told them to be. Doing exactly what He had told them to do. If they drowned in the storm so would Jesus because they were in the boat together. But they didn't think it through and they panicked.

You know that, as a Christian, Jesus is with you in this boat of unemployment. In the second half of Matthew 28:20 Jesus said, "And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (New Living Translation) Don't panic.
It doesn't make our fear seem so bad when even the apostles could feel the same way we do. When Jesus woke up, He identified the problem. The apostles weren't willing to have faith and ride out the storm trusting that He knew what He was doing.

In spite of the small and fearful faith of the apostles, Jesus calmed the sea. But that's not all He calmed (vs. 40). God has a message for us as we go through the storms of life - a message of reassurance even in the storm of joblessness.

Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, 

The God who is our salvation. 

Psalm 68:19 (New American Standard Bible - Updated)