I’m so lucky! I’ve been laid off from jobs four times in the past 12 years. Searching for a job under that kind of pressure definitely isn’t fun, but I’ve also learned much. God seems to use such occasions to grab my attention and adjust my thinking.

One thing I’ve learned is to keep the things I do in perspective. I know I need to do my work at my job, whatever it is, with integrity and diligence, as if I were working for God. Ultimately, I am. At the same time, I should not let what I do at work impinge on the rest of my life. The things I work on typically have a useful life of 5-10 years; occasionally, infrequently, as long as 15 or 20 years. By way of contrast, the character being developed in me by God will last a lifetime. So will my marriage. What I do in raising my children will last their lifetimes and affect future generations. In addition to this life, my family, the people I encounter in life, and I will live into eternity. The importance of what I work on is much lower in comparison. I need to maintain proper balance and avoid the temptation of workaholism or bringing my work home (except on the infrequent occasions when this is necessary to meet some schedule commitment).

Keeping my relationship with my employer in proper perspective is also important. Many companies have figured out that treating employees well often is also beneficial to the company. As a whole, employees who are happy with their compensation, are treated with appropriate respect, and are given the necessary freedom and "tools" to do their jobs are more productive, creative, and engaged in what they do. At the same time, a company’s most substantial commitments are to its owners (whether privately owned by a few individuals or publicly traded, with numerous stockholders) and its customers. A company’s commitment to its employees, if it recognizes any, will be totally subordinated to these two more substantial commitments. Frankly, if a company continually loses money or loses the customers from whom money is earned, the company will soon cease to exist and all its employees will lose their jobs. So, in the long term, profits and customers are the higher priorities for any company. This is a long introduction to make this point: no company is truly committed to me. I need to let my commitment to my employer be subordinated to my true commitments - to God and to my family. God and my family are committed to me.

Being laid off has also brought home to me the fact that regardless of what company I work for, the company is not my provider. I am not to rely on that company - however secure it might seem. The name of XYZ Corporation may be printed at the top of my paycheck (and I am compensated for work done by me), but, ultimately, provision for my family and me comes from God. At this point in my life, I’m about to start working for my ninth full-time employer (with four part-time employers during high school and college). As much as I might have wished to remain at one or another of my employers for my entire career, that isn’t what happened. As frustrating as it has been to be laid off or leave an employer for other reasons, I’ve learned in the nearly 30 years of my career that God is an ever-faithful Provider, including times when I was between jobs and when jobs have been difficult to find. No matter what means God uses, He is my Provider. Security is only found in God.

An important corollary to the paragraph above is that, contrary to common usage, I am not my family’s bread-winner or Provider either. To be sure, any company I work for compensates me for the employment of my knowledge and skills. And in addition to doing whatever I do with integrity and diligence, I am responsible - to God, to my family, to myself - to manage and employ my knowledge and skills wisely. I need to choose employers wisely. I need to keep my knowledge and skills current and add to them. All that said, God is my Provider, not me.

Along with knowing Who my Provider is comes the imperative to seek the Provider rather than the provision. Jesus put the provision and the Provider in perspective: "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." (Matthew 6:33). It is so easy to become tightly focused on the necessities of paying the rent, buying food, and all the other things for which God provides. When between jobs, paying the bills can become an especially worrisome prospect. Even in the midst of this very real problem, however, I’ve learned the necessity of seeking the Provider, God, for all of Who He is, not just His provision. If I seek Him, I will see the blessing in each instance of His provision. If I choose to worry, each instance of provision will only be a bridge leading to the next source of worry.

One of the layoffs I’ve been through was during a time when quite a few people in our part of the country had been laid off, and jobs were difficult to find in the industry in which I work. Needless to say, quite a few in our church were similarly situated. One Sunday, in commenting on this, our pastor urged those of us who had been laid off to be sure to look for anything (not limited to matters of employment and God’s provision) God might be trying to teach us or might want us to do during our time between jobs. Along with the lessons that have been the subject of this article, I started to take writing seriously during one of my layoffs.

The most important lesson, already mentioned above, is that God is faithful. Whether I stepped from one job to another, with no time between, or I was between jobs for eight months, God always provided our family’s needs. Sometimes it is hard to trust - times of stress and times of discouragement - but He is more than worthy of our trust.