What Unemployment is Teaching Me

Unemployment sucks.

As in, being unemployed will suck the faith right out of you.

Not in an arrogant I don’t believe in God, anymore kind of way. More of a This is clearly in Your will and I’m quite certain it was Your protection because those people are cray cray, but now what in the world do I do? kind of way.

I mean seriously, unemployment sucks.

I spend hours upon hours scouring job sites, putting in applications, cursing my degree -- because it seems that the only thing a college graduate with a Sports Medicine degree who has retail experience, worked for a church and loves kids is qualified for is either a job in Sports Medicine, retail, working for a church or nannying. Go figure.


That leads to tailoring each cover letter to explain how I am a qualified candidate even though my resume and the posted job description aren’t in harmony.

And that leads to emails that kindly tell me that I have not been chosen for the position. My favorites (if I can have favorite rejection correspondence), are the ones that assure me the decision was “not a reflection on your abilities, rather ... based on the lack of a match of relevant criteria with your background.” As if I need them to affirm my worth.

I want to scream out, I get it! I wouldn’t hire me, either, if I read my resume. But I know I can do the job! Just give me a chance. Just meet with me, I will change your mind!

But that’s just it. It’s not about if I can do the job, it’s about if the job is what God has for me. And clearly the ones to which I’ve applied haven’t been.

So I thank God. I thank God for His protection. I thank Him for knowing me better than I know myself, and keeping me where I am until His plans for me are ready to be revealed. I thank Him for next steps. I thank Him for sitting with me in the waiting room. 

I know I have been unemployed for far less time than many people struggling in this economy, and I don’t have responsibilities such as a family or a mortgage to take care of, but my student loans, lack of insurance, and need to find a new home are real enough among other issues and expenses.

But I continue to thank God. I thank Him for His provision. Even though I haven’t received a paycheck since September, somehow none of my bills are in default. Somehow there is still food in my stomach, clothes on my back, a roof over my head and (most days) gas in my car. These somehows are God reminding me over and over again that He is in control.

I’ll have to find a new place to live in about a month, but I’m not worried. 

God is steady in the provision business.

Laying in bed one night while visiting family over the holidays, I received a text message from a dear friend. While my heart is in the disadvantaged public schools, I spent days looking at charter schools and private schools in the area for any open position, with little to no luck. Weeks later, my friend who works with her mother at an area Christian school asked if I would be interested in substitute teaching. Out of reverence to God and respect to the school I changed my “hell yeah” to an “absolutely” and told her I’d meet with her before school got back in session.

God didn’t need me to find an open position. He needed me to be open to whatever He placed in my life.

Seems like a recurring theme.

It has been even more confirmed each day that the teaching program (in which I trained and was among the elite chosen to discontinue) was not God’s complete plan for me, as friends continue to share with me the details of the ridiculous responsibilities they have as participants.

But I am also confident that it was God’s next step. The doors were opened in such a way that I believe if I hadn’t walked through them, it would have been considered grave disobedience. I don’t think He intended for me to stay in the program, or that would have happened, but He did intend for me to go through what I went through. For that, I am grateful.

Even when I was training in Hell, constantly clinging to God, desperately depending on Him, I wasn’t spending as much time with Him as I have been able to now. That in itself has been a blessing. And all of this time with God has taught me a few things.

I find myself in a most delicate place right now.

Trusting, not only because I want to, but because I have no other choice. I have no choice but to trust God will do a mighty miracle.

I know if it's in His will, He can make things fall together perfectly at the drop of a hat. That makes trusting a little bit easier. But only a tad.

It also makes the adventure worthwhile.

I can only put forth as much effort as a human can, the rest is up to God.

He is the giver of blessings. He is the maker of all good things.

Wherever I go, wherever I end up, is where I am to be.

Unemployment reminded me of true gratefulness, that God always has your best interest in His heart so that you can do His work here on earth, and that He never leaves.

But I already knew these things.

So, what has unemployment taught me?

Unemployment has taught me that each day is a brand new day to seize whatever God’s purpose is for you in the moment. Not His will for your whole entire life, but His will for your day. 

I have had many “coincidental” conversations during this season that are truly God-ordained, and would not have happened had I been working full-time.

I have seen God move in ways I may have missed had I been otherwise distracted.

I have witnessed blessings roll into other blessings and obedience multiply these gifts. To be sure, we are not blessed because of what we do, rather because of Who God is and how He loves us, but I’m confident our obedience certainly opens the door for God to bless us fully in the ways in which He intends.

I have learned that unemployment is not just a waiting period for a job, it is an opportunity to bless others out of the abundance of your heart and not your wallet. It is an opportunity to see God in every single situation. It is an opportunity to just be His child -- no titles, no achievements, just love.

So today, I’m not just waiting for the phone to ring or an email inviting me for an interview.

Today I am celebrating my unemployment with the excitement of being one step closer to God’s next blessing.