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Some Ancient History

From June 2008 until now much of our unemployment journey has been chronicled in Discovery House Publisher's recent release The Roller Coaster of Unemployment: Trusting God for the Ride. But here is an excerpt from a journal from those early days of joblessness that didn't make it into the book...

Genesis 4:14, 16 [And Cain told God,] "Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth...So Cain went out from the Lord's presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden."

Cain had murdered his brother in anger. And now Cain recognized the implications of his sin--he would be removed from God's presence. With each sinful step this first family moved farther and farther away from close fellowship with God. Mom and Dad (Eve & Adam) were tossed out of the Garden of Eden for eating what had been forbidden. Now Cain was banished even further--to the east of Eden--completely out of the Garden of Eden's neighborhood and all the way to the land of Nod.

So, too, in your life, whether jobless or not, each little (or big!) sinstep takes you further away from close fellowship with God. When you fear what is to come, you sinstep away from what God wants because His Word says He has not given you a spirit of fear, but of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). You sinstep away from God when you are ungrateful for what God has given you, for God's Word says giving thanks in all things is a part of His will for your life (1 Thessalonians 5:18). When you worry about how you're going to pay your bills or if you'll lose your home or any of the myriad things that pop into your head in the middle of the night, You've sidestepped again into sin, for the Bible says you are not to worry, but rather cast your cares on God for He will provide for you because He cares for you (Matthew 6:34; 1 Peter 5:7).

Indeed, you and I both need God's presence more than we need the sideways sinsteps into the land of Nod. So ask Him to restore the joy of your salvation, to grant you a newness in His Spirit. Confess aloud that He is your Father and that He is in charge of everything. For that's the truth. God reigns over everything in heaven and on earth. He guides, guards, and directs you even when you might not recognize it, and God knows what it best for us. Instead of sinstepping away from God's presence like Adam, Eve, & Cain, keep trusting Him for the ride.

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