It seems like one of the most exhausting activities you can do in life is search for a job. Whether it’s your choice to be looking, or you are forced into looking, the whole process takes so much effort and there are so many unknowns. If you’re in this season or, you know somebody who is, we have some ideas for how you can stay focused on your faith during this time. With emotions and stress swirling, it’s important to stay connected to Jesus during your job search or a career change. The enemy would love to use your situation, your doubts, your fears, or just the frustration that comes with waiting, to try and tempt you and make you miserable. The good news is it doesn’t have to be like that. You can win the job search game with Jesus and we’re going to give you some ideas how.
Psychologist, Dr. John Delaney always says, “…facts are your friends.” When faced with high emotions, high stress, or high pressure situations, we should focus on facts and truth to guide us. We make better decisions when we are using a filter on our life that is based on facts and truth and not emotions. Emotions are a natural response, but they can be temporary feelings. They can be a little out of proportion and they can change with great frequency during an unsettled period of our life. So let’s practice using some facts.
You have value as a human being. During a job search, there can be a lot of rejection going on in the form of getting ding emails or just no response at all. The fact to hold onto here is that God created you in his image. With your own unique talents, traits and personality. Not everyone has the ability to see everything you have to bring to a job, but that doesn’t mean you’re any less valuable.
Here’s another fact. This is just a season. You will not be searching for a job for the rest of your life. This is a short period of time where you’re going to be out of your comfort zone and you will have to do things that you don’t want to do in order to complete the process. But. You will get through it.
Were you laid off? It may not have been anything you did. Many layoff decisions happen around a conference room table using anonymous lists of people that the decision-maker doesn’t even know who they are. That doesn’t make it any easier if you’re on the receiving side of that layoff, but it can help release any thoughts about it being an intentional hurt.
Having something taken from you and not having a choice in it can make you feel so helpless and even a bit traumatized. You may need some time to process everything that happened. You’ll need to grieve this loss and start the healing process. This is the time to seek God’s comfort in prayer. The truth is, there are other jobs. You can be confident that God has a plan for you.
Were you fired? Mistakes happen. We’re human. If you can correct a wrong that happened or ask for forgiveness, it may not change the outcome, but it could help you find some peace about the situation. Make a point to learn from this mistake so you don’t make it again and it may allow you to prevent someone else from making the same mistake. Forgive yourself and keep moving forward. Do you need to extend some grace to yourself? You will find a new job and you’ll get another chance to do things right. God still loves you and has the grace that you need. He has the power to work it all together for good if you let him.
Are you fresh out of school? Trust God’s plan and be open that it may be different than your plan. Keep taking steps each day and don’t be afraid to talk to businesses to simply learn more about a job or practice interviewing. You have a lot of life change happening right now. It is important that you make God a part of your internal dialogue. Make Him a part of your personal board of directors because you are going to be making some really important career decisions.
Are you reentering the workforce? Welcome back. God has a plan for you. You have some additional life experiences that will make you better at whatever you end up doing. The right recruiter, the right hiring manager, is out there. They will fully understand and support your situation. Start praying for your new boss, your coworkers, and for the changes that you may be going through just adjusting to life. God is with you and he wants you to include him in your journey.
Are you currently working but you need a career change? It is hard to look for a job while you have a job. Finding the time to take calls, do interviews and miss work can add more stress to your job search. It can also be stressful if you have a challenging boss or coworker situation right now that makes the whole situation feel even more urgent. God is with you. He knows what’s going on. He wants you to rely on him. Use this time to practice loving people that might be hard to love. Just do a little every day to help you move closer to your goal. Keep praying and let God work on you during this time just as much as you want him to work on your job situation.
Our job, earning a living, plays such a significant role in our life that searching for a job and interviewing can come with a lot of pressure. So much relies on having the perfect resume, finding the right job, having the right skills and experience. And then there’s the actual performance during an interview. Finding those exact right words to explain your experience, to describe who you are, and the whole time trying to be likable, polite, professional, etc. It can be overwhelming. If you’re in a job search season… you need to hear that God has a plan for you and that you can trust him.
Jeremiah 29:11 says “… or I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you, and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
If you fully trust God with your life, your job search doesn’t have to be overwhelming. He tells us not to be anxious.
In Romans 8 28, he says, And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
That doesn’t mean we take a siesta and just hope the job magically appears. We still need to have a great resume, apply for jobs that we are a good candidate for, an interview well. Taking steps to get help on each of those things is widely available and within our control to take action on. If we’re doing all the logistical steps to get a job, we can rely on God to open the right doors, put us in front of the right people, and for him to provide a way.
Not only will he work it all together for good. Get ready… He may use the situation to stretch and grow you in ways that you had no idea you need to do grow. Job search season is a great spiritual practice field for being disciplined and consistent, detailed, kind, being patient and each scenario that you encounter has the potential to teach you more about yourself and draw you closer to God.
You may think you’re just looking for a new job, but you could be in store for one of the biggest personal growth periods of your life.
During a nationwide economic downturn, I was laid off from a corporate job I’d been in for 13 years and let me tell you, it was a shock! I loved my job. I loved the company and I immediately had to start applying and interviewing and I hated every minute of it. I didn’t want to have to deal with this. I didn’t choose it. I asked a lot of “why God” questions and struggled accepting the reality of what had happened. Eventually, I ended up getting a new job. It was in the same town and I got it within about 50 days. God blessed me in a big way, not having to move anywhere and he prevented any gap in my pay. It’s been over 13 years since that happened, but I can’t imagine my life today without some of the people that I met and became friends with during this time. I would have never met them if I had not been laid off. It certainly wasn’t a situation that I wanted, but God worked it together for good. He blessed me in the chaos that was happening and I came out of it a stronger person. I also learned the hard way, how important it is to trust God during a job search season. I allowed myself to go through so much unneeded stress and worry. Knowing the outcome now, I can see how I could have cruised through the job search, all the life changes associated with it, if I had just trusted God more. I could have enjoyed the extra time off. I could have slept more soundly. I could have casually spent more time with friends and family and been so relaxed knowing that it was all gonna work out.
I want that kind of peace for you. Here are five ways that you can stay strong in your faith during a job search season.
First. Recognize you are not your job. The circumstances that brought you to needing a job can be complex. It’s important to stay grounded in the fact that your identity is not your job. Where you work and what you do is just one of the dimensions of your life and it can change over time. God is more interested in your character and how much you recognize that your identity is in Christ. Jesus saved us and now our life is now one of love, meaning and purpose in him. There is nothing more fulfilling than the joy, peace and strength that we get from Christ.
Even when we have close, meaningful relationships with our leaders and coworkers, if a business can’t sustain itself, costs have to be cut. God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow we can count on him for everything.
Isaiah 41 10. … fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Number two. Now is the time to trust God. If you don’t get the interview. Do you trust him? If you don’t get the offer. Do you trust him? If you made it to the final step and didn’t get it. Do you trust him? It’s been months and nothing is happening. Do you trust him?
There are so many unknowns and uncontrollable things going on during a job search. You have to decide, do you really trust God? If you’re feeling stressed, overwhelmed, even discouraged, take a moment and think about What you need to surrender to him right now? The more you let go… You can let God. Let God use the situation in your life for his glory. Let Jesus carry the weight and pressure for you.
Matthew 11:28-30, jesus says, …come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for, I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Number three. If you’re not already… It is time to start praying. God has the full picture. He knows the plan. He knows how to help you. Praying about your thoughts and feelings can be very helpful. Ask God to help you set your sights on his truth and the facts in the situation. The timing to fulfill your job search might not have come yet, but you can draw closer to God in the meantime. Think of your prayer life during a job search season as the oxygen and infusion of strength that you’re going to need to get through all of the unknowns, the delays, the detours. Praying keeps you connected and fortified, and it can be a powerful weapon in dealing with the enemy.
Philippians 4:6 …do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Number four. Keep an open mind about the final destination. Take all the actions that are within your control, but keep your mind open to new ideas. Riding out the twists and turns of a job search, it can be a crazy ride that ends up being better than what you could have ever imagined. You may think you are seeking a new job, but what if God has something different in mind? What have you think you need to change companies, but God is wanting you to change your mission field. What if you’re sending resumes out like crazy, but God wants you to talk to your next door neighbor. She just happens to have some really key networking contacts for you. Your job search could end up concluding with a completely different outcome than what you thought. What if you become an entrepreneur, a content creator or a stay at home mom or dad. Being open to his plan requires that you stay connected and be as close as you can to him. Pray often. Pray about each step. Talk to Jesus about what is happening and ask for wisdom and discernment. Be aware he may use your current circumstances to help with a bigger picture or a longer term solution.
Ephesians 3:20, Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Five. Seek out others for support and encouragement. If it wasn’t your choice to search for a job… it can be tempting to just withdrawal. Wearing yoga pants, eating ice cream or bingeing Netflix all day may seem like the only thing that you have the energy to do. I know I didn’t want to talk about what happened to me. I didn’t want to keep reliving the moment of being laid off. I just wanted to feel normal and have regular conversations. Having lived through this experience, I know for sure now that you need people more than ever. Go out to dinner, have a game night, attend church events, volunteer, serve, start walking with a group of friends or just one friend, go on a bike ride, get active and healthy.
These are just some of the things that you can do to make sure that you’re surrounding yourself with social connections that will help you get through this season.
Romans 14:19 says, So let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
Spending time with family and friends can be encouraging and they can help heal a broken heart that can come with job loss. You are more likely to laugh being around other people. Everyone doesn’t necessarily need to know all your business, but when you surround yourself with a community of people that love you, the enemy won’t have a chance to isolate you and tell you lies about your situation. Your community can become your personal army of truth tellers and cheerleaders.
Spending time doing fun things doesn’t mean that you won’t have to grieve a job loss. You should absolutely go through the grieving process, but you definitely don’t have to go through it alone.
Have moments of anger, tears and expressing frustration. Then have moments where you are connected with your creator for comfort, peace and wisdom. When your job search season concludes, you can celebrate with those same friends and family and give God praise for everything you learned and your new employment opportunity.
For anyone that knows someone in a job search mode right now, please be praying for them and proactively reach out to connect with them. They may not want to, respect their needs, but find a way to let them know that you’re available and willing to spend time with them.
Maybe they don’t want to go out to eat and be super social, but maybe you could bring them a meal or text or email a note of encouragement. Be sensitive to the financial aspects somebody may be dealing with during a job search season. They may not be able to go out to eat or go to a movie. If you can serve them during this time by treating them, that would be amazing, but there are also plenty of low cost, no cost things that you can do to. Get creative. The goal is to be their community and bring some peace and joy into their world in a small way.
