Feeling Out of Control?

One of the ministries that I work with is Priority Two, a ministry that works with people in job transition...people out of work. It's called Priority Two because one of the first things that we would like these people, more often then not middle-aged men, to understand, is that there are more important things in life than a job.

I find that when we get together and talk, what they often talk about is not priorities, but feeling out-of-control. They are in the midst of a huge crisis. The feeling of despair is typical and it's easy to see why. They have entered the "free-fall" zone and are they are struggling to find another job that pays something close to what their other job paid. One of the men in my small group actually described his feelings as similar to that dream when you are falling. Being completely disoriented like that is extremely difficult for those that have worked hard their entire life typically at a career where they made have had just one employer that made them feel secure and completely in control. They struggle to regain perspective on their life and their future.

Of course one of the questions that we have to deal with is "why God?". This may be a truly personal question like, "why after being faithful in giving and going to church do I find myself out of a job? Sometimes, it's more theological as in, "why does God allow bad things to happen if He is truly in control of these matters?

Now is a good time to tell you that I don't try to give answers. I know there are books out there that try to tell us that God often allows failure in our lives in order to help us grow and that our insufficiency can make us depend on Him. But I try to not go there....I find that the wisdom that is gained by the lesson is typically that which is enjoyed as a "dessert", after the meal is over, rather than as a "main entree".

I can tell you that I use this verse a lot. In 2 Cor. 4:17,18 the Apostle Paul says, "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." In this verse, Paul is certainly not talking about "light and momentary troubles" but he is trying to put things into perspective.

Maintaining the proper perspective allows us to understand that yeah, the situation I'm presently in may be lousy--my job is gone, my finances are now all negative instead of positive, I've got bill collectors calling and my family is wondering why! At the same time, I have a God who has promised to ultimately care for me and in Christ, I am a new creation that will have an opportunity to spend eternity with God. The proper perspective helps us understand that family, our loved ones and our neighbors and our relationship with God are all more important than things.

"Fix your eyes on the unseen". That's pretty good advice from the Apostle Paul. He knew all about that feeling of being "out-of-control". He also knew what it meant to have the correct perspective in life.