Ecclesiastes 3:1
Last month, I unexpectedly lost my job. I had worked there for 7 1/2 years. It was a very difficult, challenging situation and has been a true struggle to accept. At first, it seemed beyond chaotic, more like catastrophic. Losing my job at first felt like being in a rapidly-sinking shipwreck. But there comes a time to move on and rebuild your life, knowing that some new employer somewhere, near or far, will want you to work. But even amidst a shipwreck, there is a lifeboat of changing careers and finding or creating a new job. It is not a shipwreck.
Finally, I’m realizing that I cannot live in the past or go back in time to change anything. I have to live in the present and aim for a future that I cannot fully see.
One of my friends put it very eloquently, suggesting that I am like a leaf falling from a tree, comparing it to the annual autumnal fall of leaves. Yes, so I lost my job/fell off one employer’s tree, but that doesn’t mean that I will simply fall to the ground without any other options. Like the wind sometimes blows leaves to new locations, so we sometimes must change our surroundings.
Perhaps I am like one of these leaves on our maple tree in our backyard. Time for me to fly!
See Ecclesiastes Chapter 3:1-15 “There is a time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens. A time to be born, and a time to die, a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant. A time to kill, and a time to heal, a time to tear down, and a time to build. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them; a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces. A time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away. A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to be silent, and a time to speak. A time to love, and a time to hate, a time of war, and a time of peace. What advantage has the worker from his toil? I have considered the task which God has appointed for men to be busied about. He has made everything appropriate to its time, and has put the timeless into their hearts, without men’s ever discovering, from beginning to end, the work which God has done. I recognized that there is nothing better than to be glad and to do well during life. For every man, moreover, to eat and drink and to enjoy the fruit of all his labor is a gift of God. I recognized that whatever God does will endure forever, there is no adding to it, or taking from it. Thus has God done that he may be revered. What now is has already been; what is to be, already is; and God restores what otherwise would be displaced.”
A few thoughts: this scriptural seasoning has really helped me process what happened. Although I’m still not sure I understand it, perhaps my mission at my old job was simply complete. I like the “time to seek” [jobs] verse and am interpreting a time to lose [your job] that is adjacent to it. We all must deal with transitions, some deal with them better than others but almost no one escapes the displacement that career changes (or life) can bring. So it’s okay to be sad as long as we remember to be happy. Healing and building is important in this Scriptural passage and in life.
Exploring a wide range of career options is exciting but not easy. It takes persistence and perseverance. I feel sort of a magnetic pull to return to the courtroom after being away from it since 2006. I’m not really sure what that means, trying to discern. Praying that God will show me His will and that although I have been lost and felt loss in this situation, that I may be found in my new mission in life, whatever or wherever it is. It could be near or it could be far. But I know and trust that God will show me the way. Maybe not immediately, but in His time. So I’m letting go of what happened and letting God help me.
My top three tips for career changers are: 1) Count your blessings and don’t panic! 2) You have more gifts and options for careers than you might think. 3) Relax and pray about what God wants for you to do:
what is your mission in life?
Starting over takes courage, strength, and determination. But I know that God has a plan for me and my life and that it will be revealed. Thank you to all of you for your thoughts, prayers, and support in this challenging time of growth and rediscovery. I appreciate it very much! God bless you!
Which way Lord?
Follow
After working 18 years for a Christian College I too lost my job and started reading Ecclesiastes. It took a year or so for the words to really sink in in but my thoughts on work have completely been changed. Now I have memorized the book and perform in to share some of those thoughts. Its been a great journey.
I hope you can find peace in the midst of your transition.
Vance, Sorry to hear of you losing your job, too but glad to hear you were able to bounce back. It’s amazing to me how much more meaning is contained in Ecclesiastes, now. Thanks for your well wishes. Peace, Jeremy