My heart trusted in Him, and I Am helped! TR Watchman, Be angry and sin not! My husband, who is awesome, has not had a decent paying job in over 8 years, talk about difficult! I have to keep praying God carries him. We buried one church, as the denomination asked him to basically be a “hospice” pastor, helping to close churches that were dead or on life support needing to pull the plug ... how is that helpful to the heart and mind? Especially after being a successful missionary for 15 years. These passages, Watchman35, are not transcribed from a high horse, rather from a compassionate and heavy heart for your situation. I pray for your spirit, and for the peace of God to return soon for you, somehow. Job 1:5 – “…and [Job] would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.” Job 1:20-22 – “Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.” Job 2:9-10 – “Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” Job 13:15 – “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him..." Job 40:6-8 – “Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: “Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right? Luk 22:31 -- "And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat..." Eph 6:12 – “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Who knows, Watchman? For what it’s worth, we sincerely love you. Watchman, I have not experienced the kind of distress you are under, but there are two things God seems to like to do. One, is that He provides at the last possible moment. I do not understand this except that through the fires of trial He tests out faith and refines us. Secondly, I also know this to be true, that He has a job for you but if you find employment "today" you will not have the job that He is working out for you. Some things take time even for God to maneuver into place. He is wanting you to trust Him as you walk blindly in this dark world. Faith is everything to Him. I cannot say that I understand it, but I know it to be true. It is by faith that we are saved through Jesus Christ. No other methodology. Only faith. I pray that our Father will provide for your needs and to strengthen your faith, which He gives to us in the first place. I also pray that His Spirit of peace will rest upon you. Hang in there, brother! God will provide! Update: Still no job. Job application tracker up to line 83. Soul feels brutally assaulted (and I choose those words carefully). Just had my best job lead dry up today. Crushed me, again. Just crawled into bed and sobbed. Have no idea what God expects me to do or what he wants from me. Trying to do the right thing and find a job to support my family, but my experience of Him is that He continues to stand indifferently on the sidelines withholding His help and favor. And this all comes on the heels of a brutal Father's Day. With my experience again this year, I think I can say I officially hate Father's Day. Dealing with the seemingly never-ending legacy of the pain from my earthly father's rejection/abandonment, the pain from a 10-minute, awkward, superficial, and obligatory phone call from my grown daughter (for whom I poured out my life in trying to be everything to her that my dad was not for me), and the pain of great disappointment towards my heavenly Father in refusing to respond to my cries for help. Yep, pretty sure I won't be getting that call from Hallmark for the posterchild gig extolling the virtues of Father's Day. What a cruel and painful world... Lord, I pray and ask that you bring peace and assurance to this brothers heart and soul! If only he could know how much You grieve with him! No Lord, you are not Santa Clause, but a loving Father mindful of his trials. Praying Lord for a peace that surpasses human understanding! God forgive and understand every thought and word spoken in anger! Even as Christ felt forsaken of the Father, so too we all have at some point! But like Christ we also shall be glorified! TR I’m so sorry ... but please think of it this way ... that job wasn’t in the Lord’s will for you. He has a much better one prepared and you have to trust Him and have patience as He works things out. I can give testimony of my mom’s experience. She worked in the school district and her job position was being eliminated but she had seniority so she was guaranteed work but didn’t know which school (about 14 other schools and here she was only 2 blocks from the current one). She heard rumors there were only 2 positions opening up in Sept ... reporting to someone who had a reputation of not being nice and the other was a chain smoker. Back then it was still ok to smoke on school grounds. So she prayed and the verses she claimed were Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths”. Well she just sat back and waited for the assigned position. When Sept arrived she had to report to the boss who was “the chain smoker” in the Vocational Dept. The high school was 1 mile further but she was thankful it was still close to home. The first day on the job she noticed her boss doesn’t have a cigarette in his mouth nor did she see any ash trays laying around so she asked him if he stopped smoking. He said “yes, he had to quit cold turkey because he had a massive heart attack and was warned if he continued to smoke he would be a goner.” She asked when his heart attack occurred ... get this ... it was the SAME DAY she started praying! :mdrmdr: See how the Lord works behind the scenes? And on top of that with her working in the Vocational Dept, part of her job was assigning part-time jobs to the seniors on the work scholarship program. I was in the Christian school and they didn’t have this type of program available so this is how I was able to get the cool job of working for the Police Dept my senior year. It was either that or being a boring bank teller. She was in contact with more teachers and vendors to order the supplies with the trade school (cooking, cosmetology, auto shop, etc) and was able to share her faith with many. So don’t worry ... the Lord has your life all planned exactly where He wants you to be and He is going to provide. Just curious, does your daughter also disrespect your wife too? I will be praying for her salvation. Note: I also need a job. This is not the metropolis so I’m pretty much looking at ... cleaning hotel rooms/bed/Breakfasts, bank teller or cashier work. How exciting. 🙁 I was going to apply at a local dept store that is moving into the area but because of the COVID-19 virus the renovation of the building was put on hold. The way I see it ... wherever the Lord opens the doors ... it will be a short live experience because if they require their employees to be vaccinated ... forget it ... so I’m not fretting ... I’m looking up for the rapture instead. Yesterday was an interesting day ... I was buying some groceries and updating this one cashier about my experience with my colonoscopy exam. Meanwhile the manager of the store overheard the conversation and was asking questions since she is not feeling well. I was able to give her some helpful advice and will be giving her more literature on her particular illness and what fruits/veggies and tea (Dandelion Root) to take vs. being on medications. She was so grateful and I told her I’m praying for her and was able to give her a Bible tract. Who knows ... if the rapture doesn’t happen by this Sept ... perhaps she is one of the hiring managers and I will get employed at the grocery store? :unsure: Still hoping for the rapture though. :good: :prayer-hands: for you Watchman. That you see breakthrough soon. Great lesson Sis! Being open and flexible to what the Lord might provide! TR Geri7 Said: Just curious, does your daughter also disrespect your wife too? I will be praying for her salvation. No, she is much closer and communicative with my wife. And unless she is a has become a really good liar/actress (which she rarely lied as a child), I truly believe she knows the Lord and has believed on Him. She prayed to put her trust in the Lord when she was five and then reaffirmed that a couple of years later when she and I prayed together. We fed her the Word throughout her childhood and homeschooled her to give her the best opportunity to become grounded in her faith before the inevitable assault of the unbelieving world arrived in full force. I coached her Upward basketball teams, participated with her in Angel Tree and Shoe Box volunteer activities through church, learned scripture songs with her, took off work to hear her presentations and speeches at homeschool co-op events, played Little House (I was Pa, she was Laura) with her on our apartment front steps, helped her navigate her application process for college, ran point on coordinating a massive (1500-2000 people) event for her high school homeschool graduation. Yet, for the last 8-9 years, something has changed and she now wants very little to do with me in terms of any meaningful relationship. We rarely speak on the phone, and when we do it is often awkward and guarded on her end. It breaks my heart...over and over again. I have talked to her about it more than once, with tears in my eyes, but she is either unable or unwilling to communicate what has changed. Honestly, if she were not my daughter, whom I love dearly, I would have walked away from the relationship years ago based on how she has treated me and the pain the relationship has caused me. After all the pain I experienced tied to my relationship with my dad as a kid growing up, I so looked forward to becoming friends with my daughter as she transitioned from childhood to an independent adult. But she does not want it. And I live with yet another piece of my heart in a constant state of brokenness. I’m so sorry your daughter is acting this way. I can’t imagine the heartache. I do have 2 nieces that I helped raise (babysat a lot) and they don’t communicate with me that much. They only contact me for money or gifts and I never receive any thank you. It’s not like I’m expecting a card ... just an email saying “thank you” would be nice. It used to bother me but my godly Aunt taught me ... “expect nothing from anybody and then you won’t be disappointed”. The Bible tells us what life will be like in the last days before He returns will be a thankless generation ... II Timothy 3:1-5 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
I am extremely thankful for my job. It and the Lord have carried us thru, caring for my Dad until his death, my mom still lives with us, at one point my daughter and her family lived with us for three years because of unforeseen circumstances. So believe me, I totally get it, many people do! But, truly, it’s not about you, it’s about the Savior and His power to keep us! Praying for you to be angry and sin not! God loves you with an unbelievable love, rest in His righteous, steadfast, unchanging love. :prayer-hands: I do not mean to offend, but speaking truth to you! Focus on Whom you believe in and don’t let the prince of this world steal your joy! :prayer-hands:
