My employment contract expires in January. Seems a perfect time to write about hope. Writing with hope may be a bit more challenging. It is often easier to encourage others when I need to be encouraging myself. The proof to the pudding comes one spoonful at a time. The breakfast of champions is faith. To increase mine I face the facts and speak to them. I tell myself, “I do good work, I am a desirable employee/entrepreneur and I trust God to help me learn from my mistakes.”
I recently heard Steve Backlund speak about the ‘glistening hope, the shimmer of promise’ being a tell tale sign of believing for our future. Philippians 1:6 tells us to be “confident in this, that He who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Can I use this verse to bolster my employment prospects? My history of being provided for stretches for a few decades with more than a handful of divine interventions in terms of word of mouth referrals, specific opportunities being presented because I turned this way instead of that in my daily routines.
The committee of naysayers that fight for audience in my spirit explain that was all well and good in the past, but now I’m passed the deserving age limit employers are looking for, and let’s face it, I’m already a failure because my new book isn’t on the NYTimes best seller list. As I Google search for local hires and fill out the online applications I notice a glaring omission in every personal history form. Nobody’s asking, “Who do you listen to?”
My bride listens to contemporary praise music and often sends me a selected tune to lift my attitude, or at least my attention span. I’m more of a jazz hound so I tend to listen to instrumental music so I it takes me a few listens to get past the echoey drum effects to actually hear the lyrics. That’s how it is intaking new information, the first hurdle is getting beyond our bias. The new song the Lord promises asks us to play skillfully, to sing with joy. Whistling, while looking for work, is to invoke the confidence Paul references in his letter.
I have a few months to discover what I’m looking for, or perhaps more accurately, who is looking for me. I know His eye is on the sparrow and I’ll watch for whatever the little bird we call the Holy Spirit tells me. In the meantime, pray for my prospects, and I’ll pray for yours. Having a story to tell, and stories to listen to, will expand my horizons and isn’t that what we tell ourselves a career change is all about? I can’t wait to pretend I knew it all along. Position desired. Attitude of expectancy, required.
