I lost my job a while ago due to a merger, and though I knew it was coming, I was still angry and upset at my employer. I liked my job and the people with whom I worked. It certainly wasn’t a perfect job, but it was close to home and provided income to our household.
We’d been through this job loss process as a family before, and I knew this meant that I’d have to start all over again. I knew a lot of work was ahead of me: preparing a resume, finding another job, questioning if I’d even like the company. All I could think about was, “Oh, here we go again.” For years I had a routine, so how was I to structure my new life? I didn’t like the thought of inconsistency and change.
Lord of life’s chaos
In the chaos of my circumstances, I forgot a vital key to dealing with it: Jesus. Jesus is the Lord and the King of Kings. This comforts me because it means that he has a plan for my life, and rules over everything. There is no true need for me to stress out with the chaos of life if Jesus is my Lord.
I can rely on the Lord more than anyone else! 2 Samuel 22:32-34 says, “For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God? This God is my strong refuge and has made my way blameless. He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights.” The Lord gives me peace: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27). I just need to be still and trust in Him (Psalm 46:10).
Jesus is also the authority over my possessions, checking account, time, and life’s changes. I am reminded of Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:19-21: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Fear rooted in unbelief
I felt like all I could see were the numbers in our checking account dwindling. I also recognized that the pressure of comparing myself to others was affecting my heart. I saw my sin in the fear of losing my earthy possessions. As the Lord convicted me, he showed me that the core root of my sin was unbelief — unbelief in God’s power and sovereignty over my life. My fear of loss was greater than my faith in him.
I needed to acknowledge that my earthly possessions are inferior to the heavenly one (Colossians 3:2) and that my possessions will be eventually destroyed (2 Peter 3:10). Scripture even warns us that our possessions cannot be trusted (Proverbs 11:28).
As with all humanity, I was born with the propensity to sin — and I am going to sin in this imperfect world. When I die I will stand before Jesus to give an account for my actions and thoughts, especially how I handle the stresses of my life. He will judge me for my impure thoughts, desire, attitudes, words, and actions. Romans 7:18-20 describes it well: “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”
My faithful Savior
I am so thankful that Jesus, the Son of God who died for my sins, is my Savior. He daily bears my burdens: “Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation” (Psalm 68:19). While Christ is God (His divine nature), He also has His human nature. He is able to relate with me as He had trials when He came to earth. Philippians 2:6-8 says, “Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Jesus will help me sort things out. My Savior has covered all my sins of jealousy, comparison, idolatry (keeping up with the Joneses), unbelief, and temptation to think that working is not good. Jesus is in my corner! He has delivered me from my sinful ways.
I am so thankful that my Savior is faithful to me and that I can trust his promise in 1 Corinthians 10:13, which says: “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
A forward-looking faith
In knowing these truths about Jesus, I have a responsibility in faith to seek forgiveness for my unbelief. Jesus does not always answer our prayers in the way that we may want them answered; I need to remember this, and I need to accept all that He has for me. I will actively pursue to be content in where He has me. In faith, I will trust and obey, for there is no other way! I will heed James 4:7: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
As I move forward in faith and trust, I am continually humbled by his provision, protection, and grace to me through such a challenging season in my life. I will continue looking to Him for all my needs, and I cannot wait to spend eternity with my Lord and Savior!