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This Week’s Devotional Topic
LORD OF LAYOFFS
Have you ever been laid off from your job? Do you remember how that felt? Some of your thoughts and emotions might include being discouraged, sad, desperate, angry, ashamed. And you might know someone else who has gone through or is currently laid off. Well here are some questions that might help get a “God centered response”.
Question: Is God still on the throne or not? The answer is an emphatic “Yes”, He has not moved!
Is He surprised by those circumstances? Is He sitting on the throne, wringing his hands thinking oh my how could this be happening? ABSOLUTELY NOT!
A quick and simplistic answer is found in God’s word to the church in Rome, focusing on the hope for our future.
Romans 8:18-30 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
The Lord allowed me to go through a few layoffs over the years. One took place at a time when my wife and I were raising three children. This was back in 1982. I got the call from my boss back in the Midwest saying that due to the economy they were laying off half of the sales force. God used that to move us to a different state. We had to sell the house where we were, move and buy another house there. Circumstances around these transitions put our family in a position where we were so poor that we literally had bare cupboards. It was very humbling but God provided. A family at church delivered five bags of groceries to us! And jobs that followed gave me a deep knowledge of the Christian Recording industry that I would not have had if I had not been laid off. You’ve heard me say it before…looking back these events had “God’s Fingerprints” all over them.
My experiences reminded me of the fact that my layoffs were “Not the fault of People or companies…THE PLAN OF GOD.” That is the spiritual reality.
Psalms 37:23,24 The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the LORD holds them by the hand.
Jeremiah 10:23 I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
Whether it’s a new job or financial needs during the transition, God knows and will meet your needs. Listen to the words of Jesus.
Matthew 6:25-34 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
My hope and prayer are that if you are going through a time ‘between jobs’ now, that this time we’ve invested together will encourage you. That you will be able to be so confident in what God will provide that you can rejoice, looking forward to how and what the Lord will do to meet ALL your needs. Remember that He is Almighty God, the Lord of Layoffs – LORD of all.
This week’s Scripture:
Romans 8:18-30; Jeremiah 10:23; Psalms 37:23,24; Matthew 6:25-34 and Joshua 1:9
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