From Layoff to Liftoff
I was recently laid off from a company I’ve been employed at since leaving my hometown. A workplace that once represented merited progress toward the American Dream, had slowly become what Meek Mill might refer to as a Nightmare.
For months, the organization had been in heated negotiations surrounding budget, strategy, and efficiency. The growing suspense left many employees in peril. After seeing dozens of individuals funnel throughout the organization, I slowly became disillusioned with our transient culture. Instead of worrying if I’d be next, I opted to prepare for my eventual departure.
Considering this, I began asking myself questions such as, “Who do I need to become in effort to better embody my purpose?”, “What habits and/or people may be stifling my progress?”, and “What skills can I leverage to benefit my community?”
Before long, these encounters sparked an intuitive transformation that involved confronting longheld beliefs, attitudes, and interests that once heavily influenced my behavior. Soon, I had begun to hear from the Holy Spirit, receiving promptings for just about everything I thought to do. You may have to reread that sentence but I can assure you that there’s been a shift. One that’s impacted my ideology of Faith, Family, Friendship, and more.
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland Isaiah 43:18-19
I have nearly become unrecognizable; in both heart posture and temperament. I am certain of this because even in the midst of life’s chaos, all I can say is, “I am grateful.” Do I have moments of anguish just as anyone else? Sure, but more than anything, I am hopeful, trusting in the belief that, “All the promises of God find their Yes in him” and “The Lord will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in him.”
A revelation I’ve meditated on recently, is this idea that: In a time of need – your God will appear. Meaning, just as your character isn’t determined in times of comfort or peace – it’s the same alike for the measure of your faith. So the God you know and have come to believe in, will be the one who appears in light of your present circumstance. Not only during good times, but in moments when your cross may become too much to bear.
James 1:17, tells us: God does not change like shifting shadows. So even in the midst of your trouble, the God of scripture cannot change. In light of your heartache God will not change. Through your disappointment, God remains the same. Typically, it is us who change; turning our backs on God at the sight of any minor inconvenience. Such as when funds are low, bills are high, pressure is mounting, and tensions flaring like rising tides. It can become convenient to forget the covenant we forged before God.
And part of the reason for this is because human beings aren’t conditioned to suffer well; especially in America. Many of us have developed a negative relationship with adversity where we’ve learned to interpret pain as punishment. So in the face of difficulty, we lose hope, become weary, and faint at heart; failing to honor the very things the Lord has promised us.
What we often fail to realize is sometimes Pain is meant to push you into Purpose because there’s a Pruning that takes place on the Path to your Anointing. Romans 5:3-5, tells us, “we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
In a nutshell, things have to fall off on the road to glory. This includes things, people, and places of Earthly value. But if you know God, as it pertains to scripture, this is all a part of a predetermined plan for our lives. Knowing this, why should we be overcome by worry? Why should we give way to doubt or become distracted from our purpose? I’m not saying we should function like robots or make ourselves susceptible to potential harm, but what I am saying is that, as part of our faith, we will be tested, and how well we weather those storms will reveal the purpose God has for our lives.
So what do you know about God and who do you know him to be? I know that Jehovah Shammah is the Lord who is there and El Roi is the one who sees me. Jehovah Nissi is my banner and victory! With this in mind, I have already won! So much so, that I wore a cross to my layoff meeting and embraced HR with grace, poise, and humility despite the difficulty of their news. When asked how I felt, I said “Grateful,” because I am so excited about whatever it is that God has in store for me.
While I’m not sure of everything that will happen next, I know that Jesus is the true vine and God is the vinedresser. John 15:4-5 says, “Abide in me, and I will abide in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” So if you’re presently in a time of need, stay encouraged and know that anything is possible with the help of our loving God.
Peace.