Bob had made up his mind on the issue.
He had been out of work for two years, and he was now 50 years old. He didn’t feel he could go back to his last job because it had got him to the point of despair. Other than that his work history wasn’t much to go by and he didn’t have that much in the locker education wise.
With the economy as it was and the state of unemployment and also having heard reports suggesting that countries in the West were on the brink of going into a triple dip recession, he didn’t think he had much of a chance.
He had made up his mind on the issue.
Bob asked me if I felt that things would improve in the next year. I said I think they would. I told him I believed he had the qualities, experiences and skills that could identify and attain a worthwhile job, if he was willing to put in the work of presenting himself in the most positive light possible.
Bob was incredulous, whatever I said, this was obviously me being naive or being somewhat ignorant to how things were. After all maybe that was what I was being paid for, maybe I was just an insanely optimistic kinda guy who needed to get off the high.
With Bob’s mind already being made up, it was not my task to persuade him otherwise. I happen to believe I am not naive or in anyway unaware of the real challenges people face being unemployed. The challenge is real, the setbacks are real, the uncertainty is real and I understand the resulting morose pessimism that can result is just as real.
Some may feel that having faith in God brings about an unreal view on people and the world around us. The more I grow in this world and the more I consider the perspectives offered by experts in the world, the more I am convinced that faith in God offers the only real insight worth taking on board.
Faith is not about being unrealistic, because it is aligned with the wisdom that also comes from God. That wisdom is not always something that fits in with the conventional wisdom of the age and neither does it always conform to people’s expectations, but it nonetheless is the epitome of wisdom, because it comes from the Source of all wisdom.
Faith enthuses us with the reality that God is right there in the storm or the calm. His presence there suggests that He still cares, and He will still love us no matter what, and He still has a plan in it all that is for us to be conformed to the image of His Son. That doesn’t stop the head-scratching at some of the weird developments, but it does prevent us from going into despair or worse still cynicism or apathy. Faith keeps us moving on even when circumstances would suggest inertia is the only option.
Faith gives a song that lifts the spirit and inspires new ways of approaching old problems that might bring about new solutions opening new doors to new opportunities that might have missed otherwise.
Faith is commitment in the ultimate reality that illuminates what real steps we can make in our day to day life. Being full of faith is as realistic as it gets.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
dmcd
Life With CD 