Posted by Mike O on: 02.07.2008 /
Before I begin this, I just want to remind everyone that the point of “Ravings” is not to convince atheists of anything, but rather put myself on display and give atheists a glimpse into how one Christian processes things. Hopefully you find it interesting.
For reference purposes, here are the others I’ve done so far:
Ravings of a Madman - #1 - The Church of Laodicea
Ravings of a Madman - #2 - What the Bible says about Prosperity
Ravings of a Madman - #3 - Barbarian Christianity
Ravings of a Madman - #4 - Christianity 101 (1 John)
Ravings of a Madman - #5 - “I speak in parables so they will not understand”
Now that I’ve got that out of the way, let’s begin!
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I know I’ve been quite quiet on the blog lately, and I appologize for that. But life threw me a curve-ball a couple months ago and on December 3rd, I got laid off along with about 15-20 coworkers. I’ve been extremely busy looking for work and taking classes to retrain myself for the positions I’m trying to get.
Anyway, I don’t know if any of you have ever been through a layoff - I suspect many of you probably have. But I thought it might be interesting to share how my faith helps me deal with hard times.
For me, the first thing that happened was that my priorities got checked. I am more than just a worker, I am also a husband, father, and a follower of Christ. First on that list is “follower of Christ,” (Click here for an interesting discussion on how atheists and Christians prioritize things differently) which flavors everything I do - including posting here.
That doesn’t mean I don’t need to worry about getting a job - on the contrary! I’m out there working my butt off trying to do the best I can to promote the gifts God has given me! But it does mean I can take some comfort in knowing that whatever happens, however long it takes (2+ months so far), however this turns out, GOD IS WITH ME. He will “prepare the way” for me to get the job He wants me to have. And when all is said and done, I firmly believe that I will end up in the right place for the right time.
Does that mean I question every job offer wondering “is this what God wants?” Umm, that’s a good question. Maybe to some extent, I do. And if I really thought God was telling me *not* to take a job that was offered, I would like to think that I would hear that, and get it right. But I pray all the time, and I’m not getting that from Him. What I’m getting from him is “Trust me - I’ll guide your steps.”
So what does that mean? Well, I need a job. And I’d be both a poor steward and a fool to not take whatever reasonable job comes first. It’s a matter of balancing wisdom with obedience. God doesn’t call me on the phone and tell me what to do - he speaks to me when I pray. To atheists, it would appear that it’s all in my mind. But all I can say is that it’s my intent to be obedient to God - whatever the cost - and to that end, I’ll do the best I can to follow God’s will. And what I think he’s telling me is “Go ahead and take the one you get.”
A few weeks ago in the last line of this blog, Siamang posted a quote by an atheist author that said this:
The others, whether believers or atheists, can be left to their certainties.”
I am not certain how this turns out. I do not know if I will make more money or less when this is over, or how long it will take. But I do know this - I am a follower of Christ, and I believe God is watching out for me, and I’ve lived my life the best I could in obedience to Him. And when all is said and done, it will have gone well for me. God was with me when I was working, and he’s with me now that I’m not. And He will be with me at my next place of employment. Good times and bad come upon us all and my spiritual goal through all of this is that when it is over, I will have handled it well.
The day I got let go, I made this statement - “Nobody ever died from lay-off.” I will not die. This will pass and when it has, I will be a better man for it.
No, I can’t prove to you there is a God or that any of my philosophies or ramblings mean two-bits. But I’ve put a LOT of thought into whether or not there is a God, and I really believe there is. So where does that leave me? It leaves me as a follower of Christ who is currently going through a bad time, but not alone. And it’s not for nothing.
One question drives me - How would a man who was absolutely convinced that God was with him respond if he were in my shoes? I want to handle this like he would, because I am absolutely convinced that God is with me.
Leave a Reply
Comment by: Stephan
1 02/7/08 11:09 AM | Comment Link |Mike, I’m sorry to hear that. I have been in your shoes, so I know how you feel. Since I am in the area, and in a related field, let me know if there is anything I can do to help. I work for a pretty stable company and would do whatever I could to get you in the door.
I have never had God audibly tell me whether or not to take a specific job, but my prayer has always been that God would open the right doors and close the wrong ones so my only options were the right ones.
Of course, my perspective may be a little different than some Christians (ok, I’m sure it’s different, but that’s another story). I don’t believe there is necessarily only one “right” option out there. I believe God sometimes, but very rarely, has one specific task for us. But most of the time He wants us to do our best to honor and follow Him no matter where we are. That takes a lot of the pressure off. Otherwise you would always have to worry whether or not you went to the right college 20 years ago, and if you went to the wrong one you would be off track for the rest of your life.
On the other hand, God does not always make things easy, even if we follow Him faithfully. It was when I was unemployed ten years ago that I had a power saw accident and lost three fingers on my left hand. Yep - unemployment, surgeries, medical bills - all that. But I was able to learn a lot through that - mostly how good God’s people can be. We were well taken care of by our family and church during that time. Eventually my job situation worked out great, but I still don’t have my fingers.
You know how to reach me. Send me a resume’ and I’ll see if there is any way I can help.
Comment by: Karen
2 02/7/08 11:34 AM | Comment Link |Sorry to hear about your job loss, Mike O. That must be tough. I have been lucky enough to not have experienced this, but I imagine it would be devastating, not only to the family budget but also to the self-esteem (even though I’m sure that the layoff had nothing to do with your performance personally).
I’m glad that your faith in god is helping you get through this tough time. My best to your family.
Comment by: Mike O
3 02/7/08 11:55 AM | Comment Link |Thanks for that! This is my third time and each one has led to something better. If nothing else, it keeps one from stagnating! :)
For me at least, it hasn’t been a self-esteem problem at all. The company is going through hard times and there was a 20% mandatory cut across the organization. We had a technical staff of 6 programmers and I was one of two managers. That’s a little top-heavy so it makes sense to me that one of the managers got cut. Whether it was me or the other guy was not a performance issue - it was necessary. One of us had to go, and they picked me. It could have just as easily gone the other way.
Comment by: Stephan
4 02/7/08 11:59 AM | Comment Link |Mike, I posted earlier but it seems to have gotten lost. My posts seem to do that sometimes. Since I am in the same city and the same career, please send me a resume’ so I can help out in any way possible.
As someone who has been laid off three times in the last ten years, I can honestly say I’ve been in your shoes. It can be both very freeing and very frightening. Let me know if I can do anything.
Comment by: Mike O
5 02/7/08 1:57 PM | Comment Link |Yes, freeing and frightening. There is a certain “refreshing” that comes from job change. All the old wierdnesses are gone now, and I’m ready for new, fresh corporate wierdness.
I see your post is there now - and I couldn’t agree more. I’m counting on God to open up the right door(s).
I heard someone say once that if you can’t tell what God is saying, that means he’s probably OK with whatever you choose.
If God wants me to do something specific, and I *want* to do what He wants me to do, it’s a pretty good bet that one way or another, between the two of us, we’ll get it right! We want the same thing.
Comment by: Ir (Helen)
6 02/7/08 2:06 PM | Comment Link |Mike, I’m so sorry to hear you were laid off.
I hope you find a new job soon.
I think you are handling this like someone who’s convinced God is with him. If you believe God is in control of how your job hunt goes then it makes sense to go ahead and take the job you get. If God exists then it makes sense he’s involved as you train and look for jobs and as people interview you and decide whether to make you an offer.
Comment by: Mike O
7 02/7/08 2:13 PM | Comment Link |Thanks, Helen. I appreciate that.
Comment by: Jim Henderson
8 02/7/08 2:51 PM | Comment Link |Mike
(with apologies to my atheist colleagues)
I will pray for you to get a new job that you like
Also - Some of the Off The Map crew will be in St Paul May 17-19
Jim and Casper will be presenting at The Conversational Evangelism Conference at Hosanna! in Lakeville?
Hope to see you and your son and other family members there
Comment by: Mike O
9 02/7/08 3:22 PM | Comment Link |Sweet! My aunt goes to Hosanna - they just got back frm a missions trip to the red light district in India - Hosanna! is a GREAT church!
My wife and I definitely want to go - I’m not sure about Zack.
I’ll try to drum up a little business for you!!
Comment by: Julie Marie
10 02/7/08 6:42 PM | Comment Link |I’m sorry to hear about the layoff too Mike O. That’s tough. I hope you get a new job real soon.
Comment by: Eliza
11 02/7/08 10:17 PM | Comment Link |Mike,
I’m sorry to hear that you got laid off. That’s tough. It sounds like you have taken the bull by the horns, so to speak, in job hunting and retraining, which is great; what else can you do, to keep moving ahead.
I’m glad you have the sense that God is with you, in this challenging time as (I would imagine) in times when things were going more smoothly.
Comment by: Mike O
12 02/8/08 12:02 AM | Comment Link |Thanks, you guys!
Comment by: Raghu Mani
13 02/14/08 1:41 PM | Comment Link |Mike,
First time I am checking this website in quite a while. Very sorry to hear about your job loss. Wish you all the best in getting another one.
Raghu
Comment by: Mike O
14 02/15/08 8:24 AM | Comment Link |Thanks for that!