Twenty-two
years, to the day, ended my employment with an 'invitation' to join
about eighty of my fellow workers to load onto a bus for a special
meeting at a vacant movie theater about two blocks from our company.
Someone passed me on in the hallway and mumbled, “Don't get on the
bus.” Upon entering the lobby of the theater, we were required to
hand over our company security badges and all would be explained in
the auditorium.
As
you've guessed, we were terminated, because of downsizing. Many of
the terminated employees were encouraged to 'visit' a special
temporary employment service that would hire them right back into
doing exactly the same job they had been doing, but with decreased
pay and almost no benefits. The $1,400. outplacement training I was
granted, did little to bolster my self-esteem and help explain to my
family how I was going to begin pounding the streets for work, at
fifty-three years old.
My
skills and experience put me as an electronic technician and
corporate computer programmer, but I might as well have been a
janitor. I am now seventy-one years old and still get a bad taste in
my mouth about that day.
I
have only Heaven to thank for the experience moving me to a closer
daily walk with the Savior and deep tears on the pages of scripture
promises.
I
recently read some on-line extended comments of some present day job
searchers and all the work they've been going through to dot all
their “i”s and cross all their “t’s”.
While
some people view their own experiences and condition as evidence that
God is sadistic is just the opposite of His character. Sadistic
people enjoy causing pain and extreme cruelty to others. This is not
in God's character nor does He allow it in His children.
God
has no pleasure in seeing the man on the street corner with a sign in
his arms asking for work, even just food money. We want to delve into
how this truly loving God can allow such circumstances and His
purpose, as best as we can determine.
A
proper first step is to be settled in our own mind and heart that God
has a great deal of good planned on our future steps and that we must
look to Him with all our questions bathed in trust. But accusations
toward Heaven will sink our ship even on a calm and sunny day.
...
