Tag: encouragement

Have a Peter Faith in Unemployment Plagues

Have you ever had one of those weeks?  The devil was trying his hardest this week.

It reminds me of Peter’s trial that started in the upper room. After Jesus directly told the disciples that someone in their midst would betray him, they briefly discussed who it was.  But the discussion quickly turned to who would be the greatest in the kingdom, again.  Even after being with Jesus for three years, the disciples still had a problem with self righteousness and pride.

Jesus told them:

“And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou

art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” Luke 22:31-32

“Satan hath desire to have you..” This is plural.  Satan wanted to sift ALL the disciples, not just Peter.  But God put boundaries around the others and only allowed Satan to sift Peter.  “..That he may sift you as wheat,” is singular, meaning specifically Peter.

I think Peter had the most problem with pride.  When confronted with this, Peter stated that he would follow Jesus anywhere, no matter what.  Pride goes before my fall too.

I have been like Peter, stating to Jesus, when times are good, that I would do anything and go anywhere for him.  But now that I am in the midst of the trial, I am failing him, just like Peter.

Peter betrayed Jesus three times.  I have been so close to betraying Jesus, by having such great doubts of his goodness.  All during this unemployment, I have continued to go to church and do missions, witnessing every chance I can get.  But it has been hollow, just going through the motions.

How do I witness when nothing seemed good, when I really didn’t believe it myself?

Even verse 32 didn’t bring me much comfort.  Knowing that Jesus is always in heaven interceding for me brought me little comfort.  During this long bout with unemployment, it feels like no one, including Jesus, is interceding for me or even cares.  I feel sure that Peter felt the same way, even though Jesus told him that he was praying for Peter, Peter didn’t feel it.   When trials come, don’t we want to “eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die?” (Isaiah 22:13)

But, no matter how life is treating me at the moment, I have to decide (sometimes daily) that God is good and never changes.  I know this because the Bible says so and the Bible is the only truth.  In Malachi 3:6 “For I am the Lord, I change not…” and neither does His word. There are some things that you have to have faith in, no matter what life is throwing at you, no matter that you can’t see the end.

When I see that state workers are busy – processing federal worker’s unemployment claims and how unemployment plagues young people around the world, not just here, I have to step back and go to the Word – the ONLY truth.

Micah 7:8 “Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a LIGHT unto me.” God’s Word will not pass away. Truth always stands. God does not change.  Make the decision to trust the Bible.

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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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Finding Encouragement

“I personally feel that being the wife to an unemployed man means we need to do our part to show love in tangible ways, to be his best friend in the storm, to try lifting his spirits when we can, and to help boost his self esteem.”                                               ~ Rosann Cunningham, UnEmployed Faith

I love this quote from the book Unemployed Faith.  But what if the wife is the one who is the breadwinner and unemployed – where does encouragement come from then?

From the womb, I was a tom-boy.  I loved westerns and empathizing with the gunslingers and not the “helpless” women.  I always either had a toy gun in my hand or a race car.  No matter how many dolls Momma gave me, I had more fun with the “boy toys”.

My grandfather owned a hardware store, so I wanted to play store instead of house.  My whole life has been around not being helpless, of being in control.  I always believed I had more of a boy’s brain than a girl’s.

But, as I grew older, I definitely knew that I had at least part of a girl’s brain, because my feelings would get hurt discouraged at things that didn’t phase my husband.

I have been unemployed before, but this time is different.  God always came through in the other three times I have been laid off.  The week unemployment ran out, God had a job waiting for me.  I never doubted.

Now this unemployment happened.  God doesn’t seem to be anywhere around.  Bills are piling up, threats of house forclosure, threats of lawsuits for non payment, threats of reposession are happening on a weekly, if not daily basis.

I really love my husband, but all I hear from him is what we need to spend money on next, not what he is going to do to help.  It is always about what I need to do.

How do you find encouragement when there is none around to encourage?

Go back to the Bible.  All the encouragement you will need God will lead you to.  Also, find some good sites on Facebook.  The UnEmployed Faith group is great place for encouragement and to find others in your exact place of discouragement.

Always find something to give God praise for.  This simple but hard thing to do always comforts me and puts my attitude in a different place.

I hope this helps encourage others who are searching for something, anything to hold on to in this storm that threatens to overwhelm.

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