The Significance of Help

After spending a week in Oklahoma with family, I am grateful again for the timing of God. The last few months, my energy has been focused on trying to find a job. I have wondered why nothing has surfaced. Even after seven interviews and 65 completed applications, nothing has happened. Yet this week, I began to see why. My sister and my family needed me.

It was an intense surgery, lasting 13 hours from beginning to final recovery. The rehab will be painful and at least three months long, but my sister has some relief already from the pinched nerves, the degenerated discs and the scoliosis. My mother, who has been fearful, has had a week of someone else in the house. We have driven around town, we have visited the doctor, we have eaten together and discussed family business.

Although my mind has been focused on the job search, God sees the larger picture. He is fully capable of providing the job I need at the exact time he has decreed. He reminds me not to be so selfish about my needs, but to do all I can to help family – for such a time as this.

We find significance in our work, but we also find great value in being able to help others. This week, I return to Kansas City and once again, search and pray. But for the last weeks of April, I was free and available to do something even more important than my own needs – to help others.

And isn’t that a higher call?

Joy in Bloom

Flowers give me so much joy, and this year – they are spectacular. Since we had such a wet winter, the trees and flowers are abundant with color and texture. It’s been hard to pass by some of the nurseries and not buy any flowers (trying to save money), but last week God provided a gift. I used part of it for some yellow flowers in the front of the house.

It has been said that yellow flowers cheer up any room. I think that’s true, and the bright yellow seems to be everywhere this year. Besides flowers, I’ve seen yellow blouses, chartreuse jackets and even canary-yellow shoes. As soon as I get a job, I plan to buy something yellow for my wardrobe.

But in the meantime, I’ve planted a few yellow zinnias in front that cheer me every time I drive up to the house. They remind me of God’s provision this week and of the need to stay encouraged and live in hope. A few yellow flowers are worth it to keep my spirits up and my thoughts on the Creator.

Lessons of Unemployment

Although being unemployed is scary, I have been trying to find some positives in the situation. Some of the blessings I’ve discovered are:

• TIME – on the days I don’t do temp work, I have more time to read books, think about God and stroll through the local nurseries – smelling not only the roses, but all the other flowers.

• MEDITATION – thinking more about trust and about who God is. Can I really trust him to come through and find me a job? If not, then what’s wrong with my faith?

• CREATIVITY – since I’m a writer, I’m always being creative with my words. But now I’m also learning creativity with the budget. How far can I stretch those vegetables? How many dishes can I make from one stir fry? Answer – as many as possible until they’re gone.

• PATIENCE – Psalm 40:1 reminds me not only to wait for God to answer, but also to wait patiently. That means, don’t complain. Focus on blessings.

• KINDNESS – God’s people are kind. Some have sent cash, one friend mailed a grocery gift card, others sent greetings and confirmation that they are praying. Every kindness is a like a breath of scented air.

• SECURITY – my faith is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ. Jobs are extra benefits, places of work where we can influence people and try to do some good in this world. Jobs are not our security. When the job is gone, God is still here.

• FAMILY – my extended family lives in Oklahoma, but I know they pray for me. My family here is my son and our animals. I’m spending as much time as possible doing things with them. This blesses me as well as them.

I truly hope that a job appears soon, and I need it to happen soon. But in the meantime, I’ll keep looking for the blessings of unemployment and stay in hope.

Spiritual Burn-Off

Have you ever seen a field in burn-off? Farmers and ranchers set fires in their fields to keep the weeds down and stimulate new growth. Along I-35, signs are posted, warning drivers not to travel into heavy smoke from the burn-offs.

If you watch the progression of a burn-off, it follows a certain pattern. The immediate fire is fierce, often accompanied by black smoke. The once-fertile field retreats into a charred blanket of ash. But about three days later, tiny sprigs of new growth begin to push upward. In about a week, especially after a spring rain, the field is verdant green. Wildflowers appear. Wildlife returns.

In our spiritual lives, we sometimes need a burn-off. Hefty strongholds, destructive behavior patterns and just plain old sin need to be removed. God uses the fire of discipline and difficult circumstances to burn away our weedy behaviors. If we cooperate with him and learn our lessons, we experience a season of quiet and rest. Then we begin to grow again, to produce fruit and live abundantly.

Burn-off isn’t pleasant, but it is necessary – especially if we want to truly live.

No More

During our Bible study video this week, we heard a statement about heaven. “There will be no more tears, no more crying, no more pain.”

We were encouraged to make our own list of “no more’s” – the things we go through here that will be no more in heaven. So my list included:

No more medical bills
No more worries about finances – ever again
No more stress
No more physical problems
No more loss of jobs / income
No more aging bodies
No more losses of any kind
No more saying good-bye
No more rejection

The list could go on and on. Try making your own list and then thank God for the “No More’s” of heaven.

The Encouragement of the Geese

Several years ago, during a time of great suffering, God sent the geese. I was driving to work and fighting discouragement, when a flock of geese flew right over my truck. They were so beautiful, so fluid in their movement and so determined in their purpose – I felt encouraged. I knew that the same Creator who gave the geese an instinct to fly in a V, would also direct my life. Since then, every time I see geese, I praise God for his provisions and his direction.

During this job search, I have seen more geese than any time in my life. When going to an interview, geese were all over the lawn near the building. Driving to a job fair, 3 different flocks of geese flew over me. At least once or twice every week or so, I see more geese. None of these situations have resulted in a job, but I’ve felt encouraged by the geese that God keeps sending.

This morning, I met a woman for a networking meeting. She gave me some ideas, but no definite answers for a job. Later, I was driving to a luncheon appointment, and I thought about the networking lead. I wondered what God had in mind.

I turned into an access road and right in the middle of the road were four geese, just leisurely waddling along the asphalt. They seemed in no hurry, but completely comfortable to let me wait for them. I laughed out loud for several moments.

“Thank you, God. Here are the geese once again – not at all frustrated because I don’t have a job. Just doing what they do best – waiting for a signal from you to fly.”

God's Thermostat

A quote by Warren Wiersbe states, “When God permits his children to go through the furnace, he keeps his eye on the clock and his hand on the thermostat. His loving heart knows how much and how long.”

I think God is standing right beside the thermostat now.

The past six weeks have been filled with one trial after another on top of spiritual and emotional testing. God has placed me in the furnace to temper me, teach me and toss me around. Besides the job search, there have been additional health issues – both for me and my son, another round of dealing with health insurance, a late night phone call regarding someone getting access to my credit card, concerns about my family at home, gloomy weather that makes me sad and on and on. Each day has brought something new, rather than any type of relief. I wonder how much higher the thermostat can go before I melt into a heap.

But maybe that’s where I need to be – in a heap of melted self at the feet of Jesus.

1 Peter 1:7 reminds me, “Your troubles have come in order to prove that your faith is real. It is worth more than gold. Gold can pass away even though fire has made it pure. Your faith is meant to bring praise, honor and glory to God. That will happen when Jesus Christ returns.”

The purpose of the heat is essentially to bring praise, honor and glory to God – to change me more into the likeness of Christ – to release the Spirit-filled life in me so that I can be an example to others. So let the heat come, let it melt off everything that hardens me. Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.