Encouragement for the unemployed

Encouragement for job seekers

Joblessness..this sounds like a negative term, doesn’t it? These days, we may feel that the only work that is valuable is work that receives a paycheck. In one way, a paycheck is a silent commendation or validation or could be received in that manner. It says , you had a job to do and you did it. There is a sense of completion. For the believer, God has purpose for us, and he also does the work in us that follows his planning of salvation from endless ages. What was God doing back then? What was the Son doing? The Son had a job assignment – to come to earth, and to rescue and save his people from their sins. But for thousands of years of human history, the Son had still not become incarnate as a baby in Bethlehem. What was he waiting for? This must have been part of the plan – the good plan too – the waiting, the watching, the seeking and finding even before Jesus stepped on the scene as a man to set free the slaves and give his people a hope and a future. And yet, he had in a sense been doing that all along – as love, as who he was, is, and will be. Even though Abraham was saved by faith, looking ahead to the fulfillment of God’s promise, people still waited for the promised deliverer . And they were not disappointed. In the fullness of time, the carpenter’s son would come to save those who were under a curse, to redeem them by becoming a curse for them.^1 He who knew no sin became sin for those who believe. ^2 And in him we are new creations. ^3 We are set free to do the good works prepared for us , just as the plan of salvation was also prepared long ago and revealed after all those years.^4

For the joy laid before him, Jesus endured the present pain for the future gain and joy of his people. We were his joy. He took pleasure in us and he does now and he will – forever and ever – what a joy to know and to take part in. The joy of the Lord (the Lord who takes pleasure in his people and never changes) is my strength, Nehemiah – who waited for Jesus to come – wrote before Jesus came. ^5 And now that Jesus has come, the tapestry of salvation is more fully revealed, but it is still true that what we will be in the future has not been fully revealed to us. Neither has the heart imagined nor has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love him. ^6 And yet, we are told WHO we will be in the presence of for eternity. Not just a life but THE life, and ours – a person who takes pleasure in us and laid down his life for us. ^7 A person for whom all things were created the first time, and in whom we are made anew and prepared for the day when we see (more clearly?) the faithful fulfillment of, “Behold, I make ALL things new”.^8

We are part of the plan to reconcile all things to our Savior and the one who made peace through the blood of his cross is not only peace but OUR peace.^9 Who he is, he is for us. Nothing can separate us from his love – not life, death, angels, rulers, powers, principalities, or looking for a paycheck that one has not found yet. ^10 Through the cross, Jesus paid the price we could not pay ourselves and actually gives us what we did not earn ourselves: eternal salvation, freedom, and joy that never dies or runs out. How can he do that? He satisfied God’s justice and reconciled God and man through offering himself, as the God-man, on the cross for us. By his stripes we are healed, Isiah wrote, another prophet who looked forward to the arrival of the messiah, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.^11 We are both crucified and buried with Christ, who took our sins, in Judy Roger’s words, far away.^12 We are  buried with him, but we are also raised with him in newness of  life. He did not stay in the grave – he is risen – just as he said!^12 The Captain of our salvation was made perfect through suffering, and we are made perfect through him. Through suffering, he led the way – through suffering followed by glory, and that is where we follow him. He drank the cup the Father gave him to drink so that we can say “My cup overflows with living water. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the lord forever!”^13 Whether cast down or not, and whether perplexed, persecuted, or meeting trials of various kinds, the Captain of salvation who is always with us will never leave us or forsake us – his Spirit will stay close to us – and through him we have the victory that overcomes the world. ^14 God did not spare his own son for us, so won’t he also give us all things?  Jesus did the work that was given him to do and he went to the cross, despising the shame and looking to the joy ahead, which included the ones the father loved and gave him as the sheep that no one would ever or can ever destroy.^15 As the good Shepherd given a gift, Jesus delivered from death the souls of those captive.^16 And now, we are given work to do – meaningful, satisfying work that God does in us and through us. There is a real sense that every Christian has a job: both in creation and as new creations. A job has been defined as a duty, task or function that someone has, and a function as a special purpose for which something exists^17. We were made for God’s pleasure and we fulfill the purpose for which we were originally created as sons and daughters born of God. Do you need wisdom about how to serve him? Ask him and he will show you! Call to him, and he’ll answer you.^18 The Lord takes pleasure in his people.^19 He will bless them with peace. ^20 He will satisfy them and fill them with good. Look to Christ, the Living Word, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Go to that high Priest who is also the Giver of Rest and who gives us himself, who IS peace.^21 Look to His Word, and consider also asking another godly person that you know who is a follower of his. Call to the Lord – Call to him, and he’ll answer you. ^22 The night may endure for a while, including what may seem a very long while but in the morning is joy. The darkness is there, but the light shines out of darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. ^23

Run to the shepherd who fill this people with good; who satisfies their souls with good things. Cast your cares on him! Because he cares for you.

He satisfies the souls of his sheep with good and for good.

Jesus, Shepherd, Savior, Friend,

be our light in the darkness

until the day follows night

and the darkness comes to an end

12. Judy Rogers. Blessed: Songs for the Beautitudes.

1-23. English Standard Version, Crossway Bibles 2011. King James Version. BlueLetterBible.org. New International Version.

17. Encyclopedia Britannica, Google Search. Britannicca Dictionary, Google Search.