“Congratulations!” my friend said. I was surprised. That was far from the usual response I got about my redundancy.
My friend went on to explain that he believed this season would be important for me because God would give me a new assignment. This short conversation helped me totally reframe the situation and I came away deeply encouraged. Now, looking back, he wasn’t wrong.
After hearing that my role was at risk of redundancy, I remember experiencing a sense of mourning. I had worked at this cinema chain for six years. I had built strong relationships with colleagues over those years. I really felt a part of the team.
The pandemic had not just affected the company but the cinema industry as a whole, and my hope had been that I could help turn things around during this crucial time. When I realised that my redundancy was more helpful for the company than remaining part of the team, it was one of those moments I just had to accept, but it still felt like a loss.
Despite adjusting to this new reality, I had a deep sense of peace over my future. I grew up hearing sermons and singing songs about God’s faithfulness and that He provides. This felt like one of those pivotal moments to choose to believe in His faithfulness and that He would provide.
Circumstances like this of course bring a heaviness and tension around finances. My wife and I needed to figure things out and naturally family were worried for us. Some of my actions in response to the redundancy in the following months contributed to some of those tensions. Western culture really drives this individualistic way of life, and my approach to the situation was trying to do everything myself, explaining to my wife that “I got this” and “I’ll sort this out”. Later on God brought it to my attention that this approach was keeping my wife in the dark and wasn’t allowing us to be a team.
While I was looking for a new job, I chose to prioritise my time with God. Whilst it’s easy to put your head down and get busy applying for jobs and making money, I knew I needed God more than ever. What surprised me was how close I felt to God during this season. After the redundancy, I had more space and time to meditate and hear from God. Before, my mind was so consumed with work, projects and deadlines. God showed me how much of my values, character and insecurities had been strongly influenced by today’s culture – like trying to fix everything by myself and frankly being stubborn about it. God led me to open up and let others help me – to go to Him for help, my wife for help, my family and friends for help.
"What surprised me was how close I felt to God during this season."
John 6:16 – 21 became an important passage for me in this season. The disciples are on the water after a long and tiring day, and a storm begins. Whilst wrestling with the storm on the boat, Jesus approaches, walking on the water. It says the disciples were frightened. Putting myself in their shoes, if I’m exhausted and going through hard times, I’m not in the best place to make sense of anything. So, the disciples are exhausted after a long day, having to use all their strength to navigate the storm, and they see this individual walking towards them… on the water!
How do you begin to process that or make sense of it, especially in the disciples’ state? Questions that would be racing through my mind: Who is this man? Who have I been following?
Verse 21 says, “Then they were willing to take Him into the boat.” Despite what the disciples were possibly feeling or thinking, they still chose to have Jesus with them. Even though He showed up in a way they least expected, they still chose to trust Jesus and brought Him into the boat.
Now I am back in a full-time job, it is easy to be swept away with it again and all my other commitments. I am working hard to honour my time with God.
I did not expect to be made redundant. I did not expect to be out of work for some months. I did not expect that God would choose to use that season to bring to light some of my values and habits in order to rebuild me to align with His character. I did not expect to take a different direction in my career and that I would love my new job at the Evangelical Alliance. At each of these moments I couldn’t fully make sense of it all. There were multiple times where Jesus showed up where I least expected, but each of those times I was willing to bring Him into my boat. Now, looking back, I am incredibly grateful for God’s faithfulness.
Living for Jesus at work
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