HOW TO START YOUR JOB SEARCH
1. Ask God for Help.
“Commit your way unto the Lord; trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” (Psalms 37:5)
2. Be Willing to Listen for His Answer.
Many years ago, I was out of work. I read newspaper classified job ads (remember those?), searched online, called everyone I knew, and prayed hard. For days and weeks nothing happened. Then I slowly became aware that I was having a re-occurring thought: “Call Augsburg.” Being a bibliophile I knew every bookstore in the Austin area and knew exactly where this store was and that they had no openings, so I ignored the thought. One month went by…no job offer anywhere. The quiet thought continued: “Call Augsburg.” I continued to ignore it. A second month went by and I continued ignoring it. Finally, near the end of the third month, I had begun to wonder if this could be God answering my prayer. Eventually, I picked up the phone and called the store, asking for the manager. I expected to be told he wasn’t available, but to my shock the woman answering the call asked me to hold. There was a semi-long wait, and just as I was about to hang up, the next voice I heard was the manager’s.
“Yes?”
” Hi, sir. I’m wondering if you have any job openings?”
There was a long silence and I was beginning to fear I had irritated him.
“Funny you should call now. My best worker just walked out of my office after giving me two weeks notice. This is our busy season and I need someone. You’ll sign on as a part-time temporary sales clerk and we’ll see where it goes from there. When can you come in?”
3. Be Obedient to What You Hear
God is a gentleman. He will not violate your free will. He’ll just keep quietly knocking. He says: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice, and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (The Revelation of Jesus Christ, chap. 3, verse 20)
He is merciful, and He hears your prayers. But He also works with humans, in synergy with us: had I only listened and not acted in obedience by calling that particular store at that particular time, I would have remained unemployed longer.
Lessons Learned:
God is merciful: He knew I would procrastinate, so He began prodding me to call way ahead of when He knew I would act. While He was patient with me, just think what might have happened if I had obeyed sooner. See Psalm 139 in the Bible.
Before that, He led me to be familiar with this particular bookstore before instructing me to call the store.
Don’t despise small beginnings: What started as a part-time temporary Christmas sales position led to ten years of full-time permanent employment. Towards the end of the ten years, while still working full-time, but knowing our store would be closing eventually, I took on a second job working part-time for another bookstore, a wholesale customer of my full-time employer. The part-time job led to me meeting my husband. If I hadn’t been obedient to make the call to the original store, I might never have met the other bookstore owner, been hired there, or met my husband.
So don’t be discouraged. “Commit your way unto the Lord; trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” (Psalms 37:5)
Thank You, O Lord, for your merciful patience. Have mercy on all those now looking for work. Provide for their needs and bring glory to Your name.