Losing employment can be a very traumatic experience

Q: So many people have lost jobs — and lost heart — yet bills continue to pile up and children need to be fed. How does one encourage others in times like these?

— J.L

A: Losing a job can be a very traumatic experience. When people get cut from the workforce in difficult times, it can have a serious psychological effect. In our culture, most people have to depend on being hired by others and when the job market is limited, it brings despair.

It is always possible that when someone loses a job it may lead them into an entirely different type of work. People should be open to the possibilities of considering going a different direction. Often this is God’s way of setting people on a new pathway.

Be an encourager by pointing to God, acknowledging his provision for those who will look to him as the Source of all things. This can be an important time for spiritual growth.

If a person is not a believer in Christ, losing a job could be God’s way of getting one’s attention, opening the way to consider the need for salvation and for God’s direction in life. For those who know the lord, pray that they will rely on the lord to reveal the next step in life, because he promises never to leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).

God intends for people to find satisfaction in work (Ecclesiastes 2:24) and he knows what happens in each life. Our lives never need to be filled with hopelessness if Christ is at the center. He cares and has a plan for each one who belongs to him as his child. Trust him to make his pathway known.

This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.