Are you sure?
This bookmark will be removed from all folders and any saved notes will be permanently removed.
Eye on the World: satisfying and sufficient work
The number of long-term unemployed workers in the United States decreased to 3.37 million in May, which is the best figure since the end of the Great Recession, but still high in a historical context. The Christian Science Monitor reports that this number “far exceed[s] even the conditions seen during the double-dip recessionary period of the early 1980s, long considered by economists to be the worst period of unemployment since the Great Depression.” In Europe, Africa, and the Middle East the quest for employment—especially among younger people—is not always an easy one.
“The ‘Flex’ Economy,” a recent Monitor cover story, describes new employment strategies people are pursuing in order to spend more time with their families, to have more satisfying jobs, or simply to remain employed when a company’s priorities shift.
Many Eye on the World readers may be interested in praying about employment — whether for themselves, family members, or for the world at large. You might enjoy “You’re ‘linked in’ to God,” a recent account of a man’s discovery that being “linked in” to God can remove all obstacles, even the ones that seem insurmountable. He writes, “As I continued to rely on God, what could have been objections became strengths during the interview process. For instance, instead of my age being perceived as a barrier to employment, the new employer saw my experience as important for the position they were trying to fill.”
You may also appreciate two other articles — one recent, one older — in which job-seekers benefited from insights gained from two very different accounts in the Bible.
The book of Jonah in the Bible was a guide to one individual who had found some part-time work but was not able to gain stable employment that would enable her to live on her own. In “The right path to meaningful work” she shares how her prayers led her to the story of Jonah, where she found a helpful lesson: “When we are in an undesirable position, we don’t need to focus on the ugly surroundings or any material picture. Instead, we can lift thought to the understanding that ‘salvation is of the Lord’ (Jonah 2:9 ) and trust in God’s guidance.”
In “Wilt thou be employed?” another writer shares how she found employment when she was inspired to rethink Jesus’ encounter with the crippled man at the pool of Bethesda. Her feelings of frustration transformed into trust in God, and she was hired at a job soon after gaining this spiritual peace.