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My first year anniversary at my current job has come and gone this month without much fanfare. But I quietly celebrate anyway for it’s been a blessing working there and I’m happy to be at a place where I can use my graphic and web design skills effectively. In addition, the hours are flexible and the people I work with are very nice.

But things weren’t always this way.

Before this job, I was without a steady means of employment for a little over a year. The company I worked for at my previous full-time job had ceased operations. I was part of the team that survived several rounds of layoffs but who saw the company eventually shut down. I entered a job market replete with displaced web industry workers. Although I would sometimes get good responses from job inquiries and sometimes get as far as the second round of interviews, actual work was few and far between. Pounding the pavement had become a full-time endeavor in itself.

It was a difficult time. Here I was with several mouths to feed and mounting bills to pay. After six months, my unemployment insurance checks had ceased coming. As any typical household going through a crisis like this, domestic tensions began to emerge. Pressure to provide for my family was increasing while job prospects hadn’t gotten any better. Even this cautionary verse was hanging over my head rather ominously.

My identity as a man was being challenged. But where was I to base my confidence? Should it be on my education, on my accomplishments, on my vocation, all of which at this point had failed me? Or was I to base my identity on Christ who has given himself up for me?

Frankly, I felt a lot like Job. Job was that Bible character whose riches were wiped out, whose children got massacred, who got boils all over his body, whose wife wished he was dead, and whose friends did not support him. The extent of my trials was of course far from what he had gone through but I had an inkling of what he must have felt. I strove to be like Job whose response to all this was to believe that God was good to him.

It wasn’t easy. But the Lord has been faithful in so many ways during this trying time. My kids never starved - there was always food on our plates. We never lost our place of residence. Our basic needs were being met. God has brought forth people who lent a helping hand, whether monetarily or in kind. My family and I witnessed a tremendous outpouring of kindness towards us. The Lord also allowed my wife to step up to the plate by giving her the time and energy to open up a licensed child day care at home. That helped tremendously.

Through it all, I learned that in order for God to increase, I must decrease. In this place of humility, Christ’s faithfulness was demonstrated and His glory manifested.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. James 1:2,3

Tags: anniversary, Christ, family, Jesus, work

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 31st, 2003 at 2:02 am and is filed under Family/Personal, Matters of Faith. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.