Faith During Unemployment

In uncertain times, trusting God is a must.  But how do we trust in the midst of an uncertain future?

If we are obedient in trusting God and obeying His direction, we will be led to a deeper understanding of His will.  But how are we supposed to obey when we don’t know the ending?

Faith leads to eternal rewards.  But how do we keep walking in faith during long bouts of unemployment?

Bayless Conley had a great sermon this week about this.  Abraham is our Father in Faith for the Jew and the Gentile – for all.  Listen to his sermon below.

Bayless Conley – Answers – Footprints of Faith

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (KJV)   This explains that we are not supposed to have the ending before we start the trial.  Faith deals with unseen realities.

During my long bout of unemployment, I had a hard time reconciling a God that is good allowing this hard trial to happen, that God wasn’t delivering like He had in times past.  Even though I grew up in the church and had been a Christian since I was a teenager, none of that seemed to help when this trail continued.  I really felt like a modern day Job.  Unemployment doesn’t just affect your finances; but your friendships and your activities.  Your spiritual foundation is rocked and maybe even cracked.

In Romans 4:3, we find the basic reason Abraham could keep walking in faith – “Abraham believed God”; simple TRUST.  When people disappoint us, we lost faith in them, we don’t trust them.  That same feeling happens when God disappoints us.  We begin to lose faith because we don’t trust God in the same child-like way anymore.

We have to remember that God is good.  Jesus stated in Luke 18:19 “And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.” (KJV).  We have to make up our minds that either every word of the Bible is true or not.  When we get past this hurdle to start trusting God again, to believe that He has our best interest at heart then we can proceed with other steps that Abraham took.

Footprints of Abraham’s Faith

  • Obedient faith
    • Hebrews 11:8. “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed ; and he went out , not knowing whither he went .”  Abraham simply obeyed.   By faith, Abraham went out not knowing where God was leading him. When Abraham started going, God revealed a little more as he went.  This made Abraham vulnerable which put God in control.  In obedience, Abraham left everything behind.  We have to obey when God leads us, but never do anything under our own power.  If we go without God’s blessings, it will turn to ashes.  Faith is walking in the Light we have at the moment.
    • I have always tried to obey when I felt God was leading.  Every time I stepped out in faith, the project was accomplished well over my expectations.  This year, I stepped out in faith and sent in a short story.  It was picked to be included in their book.  My first published piece.  Beyond my expectations.  But, I found out during this trial that I love to be in control.  I didn’t even realize I was like that.  Leaving control to God has been a struggle, but is a relief when I finally let go and let God.
  • Unselfish faith
    • Hebrews 11:9 “By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: “  The country of Ur was one of the most civilized in the area.  Every luxury was available.  Abraham willingly left everything, family, homes everything to live in the desert in a tent for something that was sure would come to pass for him and his generations to come – God’s promise.  His eye was on an eternal reward.  He was willing to sacrifice for coming generations.
    • I have trouble with this one. How can I be unselfish and give my material goods away (or sell them for missions) if all of them are being taken away for bills?  I would love to say that I don’t struggle with this daily, but I do.  We are living in the house I grew up in.  Before that we were living in my grandparents’ house.  We live on the family farm with a lot of family still in the area.  It would almost kill me to leave everything and move, especially if I didn’t know where I was going.
  • Miracle-producing faith
    • Hebrews 11:11 “Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.”  Sarah received strength from God and delivered Isaac.  There were other unfulfilled promises, at least in their lifetimes, but this was one that was waited for and definitely brought God glory.
    • As mentioned above, there have been many miracles in my life, but I tend to forget them when long trials occur.  We were able to give a piano to a nursing home, many different projects at church came to fruition even through there was a lot of opposition by the elders of the church, and the above published short story.  These are just a few of the miracles in our lives that I tend to forget about.

Next time I will go into the secrets to Abraham’s faith!!!!  Stay tuned.

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