Trusting God for the Ride

Have you ever imagined living during the days of Noah and the ark? The animals walked in, two by two. The rain kept coming and coming. The water kept rising and rising.

In a sense that’s what happened in Nashville, TN during the first week of May, 2010. Weathermen say it was an unexpected happening. Newscasters called it a flood that only happens once in a thousand years. But to homeowners like myself, it brought to light what some have labeled “the tyranny of the urgent.”

Too often we are driven by the urgent things in our lives…the appointments we have to keep, the times of day we have to take our pills or walk the dog, the weekly blog that awaits another entry, the fuel gauge on the car that screams “Fill me, now, or I’m going to quit running!” There is a tyranny of urgent things in our lives that keeps us marching faster and faster in an attempt to accomplish it all.

But, when a “thousand year flood” invades your life, the urgent things lose significance in the face of the important things. Important things like a neighbor’s home flooding faster than he can get his things to safety. Important things like evacuating an elderly couple from a rapidly flooding home or checking on the home of a neighbor who is out of town. Important things like caring for one another, helping out in whatever way you can, sharing what little resources you might have with those who now have none.

For two full weeks our neighborhood was cut off from the outside world. No telephone. No Internet. Some roads impassable. That’s what happens when flood waters still cover the ground. No longer important by newscasters’ standards, but very important to those who live there. And when my telephone rang alerting us that we were reconnected to the twenty-first century, a cheer went up. And a prayer, too, for all those who lost loved ones in the flash floods, for all those who suffered major economic loss on top of already stretched thin finances, for all those who have no place to call home any longer, and for all those who still wait for electricity, telephone service, clean water, and clear roads.

It wouldn’t have been easy to be Noah up in that big, old ark, waiting for the water to subside, not knowing what he’d find when the ark finally rested on dry ground. Here in Nashville, we’re not sure how all this will pan out in the end, either. But this we do know. God is sovereign. And God is faithful to all the promises He has made. So, we will keep on trusting Him for the ride—-the ride of unemployment and of the watery ride of a thousand year flood. “In everything give thanks” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)!

According to Genesis 6:8-9, "Noah found grace [favor] in the eyes of the Lord...Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God."

Did you catch the progression of Noah's description? The way these statements come together says a lot about Noah. He found favor with God, was a righteous man, and walked with God. Despite these notations, Noah probably wasn't perfect, yet the people of his time condiered him blameless. Can the same be said of us?

When our days are troubled and full of stress, may we be like Noah...always walking close to God and finding His favor because our deeds are righteous (as much as is possible for faulty humans!). May those we interact with in the neighborhood, at church, with former work colleagues, or with those we've just met consider us to be blameless, persons full of integrity and always ready to speak the truth without dissembling or fudging things to make ourselves look good. Or, as Scripture says it: "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer" (Psalm 19:14).

And just so you know...there's still no full time work...the part time work has dwindled to nothing...there hasn't been enough money in the till at the part time position to pay anything for hours worked for the last three weeks...the temporary job that was to be a forty-hour work week for 8 weeks may now only be 20 hours a week for 4 weeks...

BUT GOD IS FAITHFUL. He has not forgotten where I live. He knows my needs. And He has promised to take care of me. So I will offer a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving--gratefulness to God for all He is and for all He has already done for me. And it will be a sacrifice, because I don't feel like it. I feel like hollering and throwing a tantrum. I feel like giving up and throwing in the towel. But instead I will sacrifice an offering of praise and thanksgiving. I hope you will do the same; and then, let's both keep on trusting God for this roller coaster ride of unemployment.

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.

According to the Bible (Mark 10:27) Jesus reminded His disciples that while some things appear impossible to happen in human times and terms, "all things are possible with God."

When I read that phrase back in June 2008 when my husband was laid off from his full-time job, I supposed that it meant that even though it looked like getting another full time job in his field seemed impossible, God could make it happen. And, indeed, while God is capable of making those things happen that way, He didn't. Full time work never materialized--in 2008, 2009, or even so far into 2010.

However, what God did do is just as much of a miracle and an impossibility; it's just that I didn't have eyes to see it while it was happening.

...At first, I expected full time employment and a regular salary equivalent to his old job: instead, God provided temporary work that was enough to enable us to pay off most of our debt.

...As time wore on, I expected the impossible of full-time salaried work of any kind for my husband: instead God provided temporary work for me and a book contract with a publisher.

...As the unemployment trial drew past 18 months, I expected the impossibility of work of any kind--full-time, part-time, temporary: instead, God provided for our needs through an unplanned inheritance, some retirement payouts, and the unexpected generosity of Christian friends.

...And, as we see the two-year mark of Mike's unemployment approaching, I'm seeing another impossibility happen: a change in my attitude. Instead of expecting God to fill up our lack the way I see fit, I'm finding myself sitting back and stressing out less while I let God show me how He wants to do the impossible.

And guess what?! Now, there's a change in our work status. We've gone from unemployed to underemployed. We're both working part-time temporary work for the 2010 census. That's another impossible thing God has done. More than 40,000 people applied for 1800 positions here in Nashville--and God secured two of those positions for us.

Indeed, Jesus words to His disciples still rings true today. God is in the impossibility business. All things are possible with Him. Sometimes we just have to have eyes that will see it His way! So, keep on trusting Him for your ride of umeployment, underemployment, career choices, life decisions, etc. He IS working those seemingly impossibile impossibilities into His plan for your life!

First century Christians would greet each other with the words, "He is risen!" If this greeting was received by another believer, they would reply, "He is risen indeed!" By giving and exchanging this coded greeting early Christians could be fairly certain they were talking to someone else who believed in Jesus as Lord and Savior and not some spy from Caesar or the Jewish temple guard who sought to imprison Christians.

Today our greetings to one another are not usually marked with such secret phrases or code words. Yet our hellos might be tinged with other thoughts not spoken but hinted at between the lines. For example, someone might say hello and how are you, when what they really want to know is whether or not you've found a job yet. Someone else might even ask you how an interview went or if you've had a response to your emailed resumes, when what they're really wanting to know is why are you still unemployed? You have skills, abilities, a decent personality. So what's wrong with you that you still don't have a job?

But thankfully there's at least one person who doesn't speak in coded greetings or with hidden messages. That one person is God. God only ever says what He means. In fact Jesus says more than 30 times in the Gospel of Matthew alone, "I tell you the truth," so that people would know that what God says is true. And what does God say?

...God loves you more than you realize: Titus 3:4-5
...Your life has a divine purpose: Jeremiah 29:10-14
...God stands ready to give you guidance: Proverbs 3:5-6
...Nothing that happens in your life ever escapes God's attention:Genesis 16:6-14
...Though bad things happen, God is still in charge: Daniel 2:20-22; 4:17,35
...God promises blessings for your faithfulness to Him: 1 Corinthians 3:11-15

But best of all Psalm 145:13 says "The Lord is faithful to all his promises." Catch hold to at least one of the promises listed above as you go through this next week. Pair it with this verse in Psalms, and repeat this to yourself whenever the roller coaster of unemployment and life rushes you down the track and into the tunnels of the unknown. Keep trusting God for the ride, for "He who promised is faithful" (Hebrews 10:23)! He is risen; He is risen, indeed!

It's been a while--I've been too busy. Ever said that to anyone? Ever thought that? You meant to call...you meant to write...you meant to twitter or email or stay in touch some way, but life has a way of getting away from us sometimes. We get too busy.

It happens when you're unemployed, too. You fully intended to follow up on that lead today, network with those folks, finish your "LinkedIn" page, send your resume to that friend, or whatever else it might be, but something else came up. Something else took the time, and now you're staring at the clock and another day has slipped by, and you've missed it again. All because you're too busy.

This tyranny of the urgent makes me grumpy on Mondays. So I'll challenge you to do something that I forget to do, but need to do, and that's begin each day aright. How?

The best way I've found to order my days is to start it with the Lord. Before my feet even hit the floor, when I hear the alarm or the snuffle of the dog asking to be let out, I'll let that be my reminder to pray. First thing. Before the covers are off my feet. I'm not coherent or profound. Just greeting my Creator with a hello and a request to help me through my "too busy" day. Why don't you do the same? You'll find it will make it a much easier way for you to trust Him for the rest of your day, too, if you make Him the start of each one.

Did you realize God's timing is perfect? Did you know He knows when it is best for us to go through a season of unemployment, underemployment, or a season of work at a job that doesn't quite stir your heart or pay all the bills? It's the truth. Why do I say that? Because God is sovereign and "my times are in [His] hands" Psalm 31:15.

Consider this. In our most recent season of unemployment several things happened in quick succession. First, our last child finished college and the last tuition payment was made in May before the layoff in June. Second, within weeks of our latest season of unemployment my husband was hospitalized with heart trouble and I was diagnosed with a chronic health problem of my own. Third, the taxes went up on the house and gasoline and grocery prices began to climb through the roof. There are more instances of major change, too, but these are enough to illustrate that even when our joblessness hit, both good and bad things still came into our life.

As the Bible says, God causes the sun to "rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matthew 5:45 NKJV). That means stuff happens--both good and bad--because that's how life is. But, when you realize God is sovereign, that your times are in His hands, you can look at the stuff that happens and see it with God's eyes, eyes that better glimpse His plan and purpose.

That means for the examples I've given here, the last tuition payment was paid in May, the layoff came in June, and the hospitalization bills, house taxes, and higher prices followed in quick succession. But, because God's timing had placed the joblessness in the middle of those things, the money that had gone to pay the tuition bills could now be set aside for doctor bills, taxes, and other higher expenses. Unemployment isn't something I'd wish on anyone, but when God is in the picture, He times things perfectly.

So today, as you look around you, ask God to open your eyes to His work in your life, to His hand in your times, to show you how He has taken the situations you've experienced and enfolded them into His plan. The imprint of His touch is there. Just keep trusting Him for the ride.

The unemployment roller coaster often leaves you with more time on your hands than you had before. When you're dealing with the emotions that come with the first blush of unemployment, you might not see your joblessness as a productive time. But, in reality, it is. Joblessness can work for you. What do I mean?

Joblessness offers some benefits. You find yourself with extra time. You're not as scheduled. You may also find yourself available for new opportunities. For example: have you always wanted to have an extended quiet time with the Lord? Let this period of unemployment work for you to grant you those hours to spend time with God. Or have you felt you could be the next great novelist, musician, or athlete if only you had the time to write, compose, or train? Well, unemployment grants you a large block of time every day. Let that work for you to help you achieve this latent goal.

Whenever you look for the opportunities for such creativity within the dark days of unemployment, you're making your time of no work work for you. And that's a good thing. Ecclesiastes 11:6 NIV reminds you to "sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well."

It's quite possible that your time of no work might truly work well for you as it opens unopened doors of opportunity for God's glory and your ultimate success. As you look for those opportunities for "work" when there is no WORK, keep on trusting God for the ride. He is faithful--to find you work and WORK!

I had intentionally decided to concentrate today's blog on a different unemployment thought...but then the Lord intervened because of two little bluebirds perched on the wires outside my office window. Two little bluebirds so bright, so bouncy, so...blue! And it dawned on me, I could see them, really see them. Not like the beggar in Mark 8.

The Bible says in the village of Bethsaida a group of people brought a blind beggar to Jesus. Jesus took the man outside of the village and then spit on the man's eyes, covered those blinded eyes with His hands, and prayed.

Then Jesus asked the man to describe what he saw. The beggar replied that he could see--but that people looked like trees walking.

Jesus gently repeated the process of touching the man's eyes and praying. And the second time when Jesus told the man to open his eyes, the beggar's eyesight was completely restored. He could see clearly.

And so it is for me, and for most of us, too. We sometimes don't see what the Lord is doing in our lives, don't understand why we're taking this path or having this problem. But then God graciously opens our eyes a little and we can see a bit--like seeing people that look like trees walking.

Yet if we continue to trust and lean on the Lord's guidance and continue to ask Him for His touch, He'll do just that. He'll open our eyes to show us His way more clearly, to see His hand in the midst of our situation, to see what He is trying to accomplish in our lives. Just ask Him, and then trust Him to show you the way. And He might throw in the sighting of a bluebird, too.

In our nation's current economic crisis, dollars get stretched. Budgets get tightened. For my husband, a tightening of his employers' payroll necessitated a layoff, and, as is the case in many businesses, those with seniority are usually spared the axe and the newer hires, like my husband, are cut from the payroll. It was a true sucker punch. But, God...

Indeed, but God...God is faithful. He is never taken by surprise by the circumstances of life. God is never left wringing His hands wondering what to do next. Despite what life may throw at you at any given moment, if you are God's child and are committed to living for Him, there's nothing happening to you that He's unaware of.

How do I know? Mark 6 says after Jesus miraculously fed five thousand hungry folks with some bread and fish, Jesus dismissed the crowd and headed up onto the mountain to pray. As He did so, He sent His disciples back down the mountain to take their boat back home across the Sea of Galilee. While the disciples were rowing, the wind turned against them. They rowed for hours, making no headway. They were just about beaten, completely spent. And the Bible says that Jesus, alone on the hillside, saw them.

Did you catch that? I don't know about you, but there's no way I could see, with my naked eyes, 12 people in a yard of one of my neighbor's homes just 1/4 mile away. Yet the Bible says Jesus saw His disciples, in the dark, and probably 6 miles or more away from them.

Notice, too, the story of Hagar. According to Genesis 16 she and her son were about to die from dehydration in the desert. But God...that's right...but God. God sent His angel to direct Hagar to a real well, not some mirage. And Hagar's response? She praised God and called Him, El Roi, which means, "The God Who Sees."

So what does that mean to you, to me, to those of us without work, without income, without a clue of what to do next? Grab onto this: God sees you. He sees right where you are. He's aware of whether you've been rowing all night or about to die with dehydration. God sees you. You are never outside of His line of sight. And because of that, you are never outside of His reach.

How many breaths of hot, dry air did Hagar have to breath before the angel came? We're not told. How many hours did the disciples labor at the oars in a wind that was against them? Again, we're not sure. But what we do know for sure is that God saw them in the midst of their need. And God knew what they needed to deliver them FROM and THROUGH those situations. And God came--to deliver them before they lost their lives.

Carry that hope with you today, dear one. God sees you. God knows what's going on. And God cares enough about you to come--in His time and in His way. Hold onto that hope...

Did I happen to mention that our roller coaster of unemployment began in God's time?

If we truly believe that everything is under God's control (and it IS, make no mistake about that!), then ultimately the timing of life's circumstances and situations is also under His control.

In our life this meant that God graciously did not bring this unemployment situation to pass until our last child's college tuition payments had been paid. What a blessing that is, and what a reminder, too, of God's overriding timing in our lives.

It has always been that way with God. Abraham's descendants were chosen to be God's children more than 400 years before they ever became a nation and had a land of their own. David was anointed as God's choice to be king while he was still a boy. Twenty some years later, when God's time was right, he wore the crown as Israel's king. And Jesus Himself came to the earth as a baby, a man, a resurrected Savior, when God's time was right.

If you're waiting for work, like we are, take heart from these stories in the Bible. Your times are in God's hands. The Bible says so (see Psalm 31:15). Just keep trusting Him for the ride--all the time!

So now you know us. Now you know our hearts. And now you know how we got here...how we got on this roller coaster of unemployment.

Maybe you're there with us. Unemployed or underemployed. It's a common occurrence these days. But did you ever think that unemployment, with all of its ups and downs, might have been God's plan all along?

Think about it. If we're truly committed to our Heavenly Father and truly believe that He is committed to our good, then the things that happen to us every day are just that...pathways to His good for our lives. Sometimes those pathways are easy...when all goes right, when everyone's healthy, when the sun shines and the bills are all paid. It's easy to see those paths as God's good for our lives.

But when the path turns a corner that leads into the darkness of job loss, health issues, financial reversals, interpersonal upheavals, what then? Is this also a path for God's good?

Both the psalmist and the Apostle Paul would say yes. Even the dark paths can bring about God's good for you, for "in everything God works for the good of those who love him" (Romans 8:28 NCV). The situation itself might not be a happy one, but God can make it okay. God can allow "goodness and mercy to follow [you] all the days of [your] life" (Psalm 23:6 NKJV). You need only to trust Him for the ride because God loves you, dear one. Don't forget that!

We didn't plan this, you know. We didn't ask to be unemployed. But here we are. So let me tell you a bit about us.

I'm a writer--a technical writer. The person who writes all the stuff that nobody reads but everyone expects will be there--like, the label on your aspirin bottle, the how to instuctions in your assemble-it-yourself project, the words on the back of the cereal box. Those words don't get there by magic. Someone has to write them, and that person is classified as a technical writer.

In my case I've been a technical writer in a specific field for 18 years...in the field of Christian inspiration. I've written everything from the dictionaries and indexes in the back of your Bible to the introductory paragraphs that tell you what Malachi or Obadiah or Philippians is all about. I've written scores of "extended greeting cards"--those little giftable books that you pick up in the hospital gift shop to take to Aunt Sukie after her gall bladder surgery. I written a few children's books based on the specifications of a client or publisher. And I've had my hand in devotional books, too, covering topics for women, moms, and the general public. My mother said I've been telling stories since I was two years old, so writing, in a way, has been an extension of that--telling stories in print, instead of aloud to quiet a squirmy sibling.

My husband Michael has been my partner and best friend for over thirty years. He has nurtured my story telling and encouraged me to continue to follow that path wherever it has led while he has pursued a career in Christian retail and gift product development for many of the major Christian retailers in the United States. He's a seasoned world traveler who has scoured the globe for inspirational gifts for home and hearth. His driving passion has been to fulfill the Deuteronomy 6 command of God to the ancient Israelites to keep God's Word always at the forefront of their lives and conversation, teaching it to their children, talking about it on the road as they walked along, and even mounting it on their doorposts so they would never forget God or His ways. Taking that command into the Christian marketplace has meant the creation of gift products, home decor, jewelry, t-shirts, greeting cards, etc. that shine the light of God's Word into places that might never be touched by a Bible, a pastor's sermon, or a gospel song. In this way God's Word is going out. And God promises in Isaiah that when His Word goes out, it will not return void, but will accomplish that purpose for which God has sent it.

So, now you know. We're a household of faith, God's kids who have been placed in this point in time to reflect back to Him His glory. And we do it through words and products that highlight His Word.

Now that you know us, keep praying for us, and together we'll keep trusting God for the ride of unemployment.