Yesterday, I spent all day helping managers take their employees, colleagues and friends into conference rooms, telling them they no longer had a job and then walking them out the door. It has highlighted a few things for me:
1) The power of true hope and faith
2) How man-made organizations must sometimes put the interests of the organization before the interest of one person, yet God's kingdom is able to flourish by putting the needs of the one first. Our nature, when we are true to it, is to put the person first.
We often think of the rewards of hope and faith as tangible relief from the trials of the day - but I witnessed the true power of hope and faith and the despair in its absence. There were those who angrily wanted to get it over with, those who broke down and could only repeat how they didn't know how they would support their families and those who simply expressed understanding. All these people were good people, and I imagined that many were religious and had prayed to survive this downturn. Yet if they envisioned the reward of their faith as keeping their job, it was not realized. So what real hope did I see?
Psalms 31
23 O alove the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord bpreserveth the cfaithful, and plentifully drewardeth the proud doer.
24 Be of good acourage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that bhope in the Lord.
I love how Psalms teaches us to be of good courage, to be faithful and the Lord will strengthen our hearts. I saw people with true hope and courage, whom the Lord had strengthened their hearts. They understood that they would find their way through. They knew that this job was not their whole world. But what really hit me was one man in particular. All day he had watched his manager come down and tap his friends on the shoulder, only to watch them return to pack a few boxes and leave. Yet, when his manager tapped him on the shoulder and walked down the hall to the conference room with him, all he could do was softly say, "It's ok, it's just a job". In the moment when many of us would be consumed by the fears and despair of losing our livelihood, he reached out to comfort the one who had to deliver the message. Early this morning, he again called her to let her know he was doing ok and not to worry. This is real hope, this is real faith. Not just because he wasn't filled with despair, but because he was filled with love and in his moment of trial reached out to someone he saw in need. Real hope and faith fills us with love because we hope for a God who knows us and loves us, because we believe that He is putting His arm around us and that hope and faith leads us to act as the Father we hope for and have faith in would act. Christ demonstrated this - "Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness" (Rev 1:5) - He witnessed of His Father, He acted as He knew the Father would act. In the most painful moments of His life, He continued and endured simply for us. No power on earth could have forced Him to endure the pain and suffering. Yet in the midst of His pain, He remembered US, and the His love and the love of the Father for us, and therefore gave all He was.
And yet, sometimes the world seems to demand that we not care for the needs of the one. Man-made organizations continually demand action for the survival and interests of the organization. Selfishness, "the invisible hand" and our assumptions about how our competitors will act drive us to act for the good of the organization. And yet the potential remains to free members of the organization to be true to their desires - to care for the needs of the one. God's kingdom is the only organization that will endure eternally - and yet it puts the needs of the one first. The key is that it is founded on truth - Christ is at its head and does not command except for the good of the individual. Every commandment and teaching is simply a description of things as they really are, of what consequences will come after our choices. And the 2 great commandments? Love God and love each other. This is what I hope for - this is what I know God does for me.
I love how Psalms teaches us to be of good courage, to be faithful and the Lord will strengthen our hearts. I saw people with true hope and courage, whom the Lord had strengthened their hearts. They understood that they would find their way through. They knew that this job was not their whole world. But what really hit me was one man in particular. All day he had watched his manager come down and tap his friends on the shoulder, only to watch them return to pack a few boxes and leave. Yet, when his manager tapped him on the shoulder and walked down the hall to the conference room with him, all he could do was softly say, "It's ok, it's just a job". In the moment when many of us would be consumed by the fears and despair of losing our livelihood, he reached out to comfort the one who had to deliver the message. Early this morning, he again called her to let her know he was doing ok and not to worry. This is real hope, this is real faith. Not just because he wasn't filled with despair, but because he was filled with love and in his moment of trial reached out to someone he saw in need. Real hope and faith fills us with love because we hope for a God who knows us and loves us, because we believe that He is putting His arm around us and that hope and faith leads us to act as the Father we hope for and have faith in would act. Christ demonstrated this - "Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness" (Rev 1:5) - He witnessed of His Father, He acted as He knew the Father would act. In the most painful moments of His life, He continued and endured simply for us. No power on earth could have forced Him to endure the pain and suffering. Yet in the midst of His pain, He remembered US, and the His love and the love of the Father for us, and therefore gave all He was.
And yet, sometimes the world seems to demand that we not care for the needs of the one. Man-made organizations continually demand action for the survival and interests of the organization. Selfishness, "the invisible hand" and our assumptions about how our competitors will act drive us to act for the good of the organization. And yet the potential remains to free members of the organization to be true to their desires - to care for the needs of the one. God's kingdom is the only organization that will endure eternally - and yet it puts the needs of the one first. The key is that it is founded on truth - Christ is at its head and does not command except for the good of the individual. Every commandment and teaching is simply a description of things as they really are, of what consequences will come after our choices. And the 2 great commandments? Love God and love each other. This is what I hope for - this is what I know God does for me.
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