Redundancy

Nick, originally a journalist, has gone through redundancy several times.

Jesus never promised his followers an easy life. Quite the reverse, in fact, and we all go through tough times. But he did say he would never leave or abandon us.

That promise, the knowledge that he is always with me in spirit and leading me through life's problems, is invaluable.

Some years ago I had three jobs & was made redundant from each within a decade. At the time of the first one I had a wife, young family and mortgage to support.

Have you ever had the experience of reading or seeing something and it somehow "comes alive" and seems super-real to you? Sometimes that happens when you read the Bible. Christians would say the Holy Spirit "quickens" a verse, making it personal.

Well one day soon after losing my first job, I was reading the Bible and a verse came alive to me. It was the first verse of Psalm 23. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want". I guess many of us learned the 23rd Psalm by heart when we were at school, and I knew it well. But God somehow made this verse so real and personal to me, like a promise.

As I meditated on each one of those 11 words I somehow knew deep in my spirit that God would provide for me and my family despite my being unemployed for some months. And he did.

Yes it was difficult, and in each of those three periods we had to do without luxuries, holidays and so on. But somehow each month the mortgage was paid and the bills were met. We did not go into debt.

I now know and trust that God is my personal shepherd who guides, leads, protects and provides for me as I follow Him. It's the best security there is, and better than any insurance policy.

In hindsight I can see that through those three redundancies I gradually altered course and ended up with a new career. I am now earning less but enjoying work and life more than ever, so God did bring good out of a difficult time. He can do that for you too if you trust in him.