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Anxiety over unemployment is high

Gas prices may be low, but anxiety over impending unemployment is high!

Faith & Reflection

Gas prices may be low, but anxiety over impending unemployment is high! This morning, I googled “concerns over unemployment” and in .38 seconds 90,300,000 possible hits appeared. These concerns are compelling, valid and intensely personal.

In my pastoral experience there have been several economic downturns and recessions. Each time I’ve had the privilege of talking with people who have, or will soon lose their jobs. I would like to share, in dramatically abbreviated fashion, a few of the things that we typically speak about.

It is helpful if we can approach the problem biblically and philosophically. We cannot realistically expect everything to go well all of the time. Job, who lost not only his livelihood, but his family, wealth and health was told by his wife that he no longer had any basis for trusting God. He replied, “...You are talking nonsense! When God sends us something good, we welcome it. How can we complain when He sends us trouble?...” (Job 2:10).

While it is good to maintain national and global concerns, we don’t need to bear the entire weight of these economic crunches upon ourselves. About the time that the word recession was being coined, I was laid off. I was enrolled in a Bible college that ran evenings and Saturdays to accommodate working people, so I was concerned about tuition as well as cost of living. A well-meaning gentleman reminded me that there were 3.5 million Canadians out of work...I reminded him that I didn’t need 3.5 million jobs, just one!

Typically, when these hard times hit, we are not alone. Reaching out to, and spending time with someone else who may be experiencing similar, challenging circumstances can be mutually beneficial. And, it doesn’t need to be misery loving company so much as “bearing one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2).

Being out of work, in addition to creating financial hardship, can be quite humbling and ego injurious. We may need to take employment, temporarily or even permanently, that provides less prestige, pay or fulfillment. As awkward and difficult as this may be, we should be willing to, “humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time He may exalt us” (1 Peter 5:6).

Finally, those who follow Christ and believe Scripture, discover some wonderful truths. For example, God has promised to accompany and sustain us through the hard times. And even through (perhaps especially through) hardships like unemployment, God has a plan and is fully capable of teaching valuable, character building lessons in the process...and we can trust Him.

“God is good, a hiding place in tough times. He recognizes and welcomes anyone looking for help, no matter how desperate the trouble” (Nahum 1:7).