Losing Heart, But For The Goodness Of God

Three and a half weeks ago, my husband called me from the office with the words so many people are hearing these days: "I've been laid off."

My first thoughts were, "We've been through worse than this. God carried us through turmoil and grief in the past. We have no reason to believe He won't do the same now."

I'm reminded of a couple of verses in Psalm 27: 13-14. "I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!"

How many folks have been handed a pink slip in the past few months? The news reports are full of troubling numbers and dismal predictions. We watch and listen, shaking our heads over some the decisions made by our elected officials and praying that those unemployment statistics don't come knocking on our door. When it happens, you regard the news reports with a different viewpoint. In our humanness, we wonder how we'll pay the bills and provide for our family. If we take our eyes off the One who has taken care of us through every trial, every tragedy, every hardship, we can indeed lose heart.

Life sometimes has a way of knocking our feet out from under us. It reminds me of the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote cartoons. Remember those? No matter how hard Mr. Coyote tried, the Roadrunner always managed to slip away. You'd think the poor coyote would have given up and thrown in the towel. "Forget it. This is too hard. I'm tired of trying and failing. I give up. I'll never succeed." And he drags his tail off into the sunset, never to pursue the Roadrunner again. He's lost heart. That's how a lot of people feel these days. That's how we could have felt, too, except for God.

When adversity comes to your house univited, you have two choices. You can give in to fear or bitterness, or you can take Mr. Coyote's approach and never give up. The day my husband came home unemployed, we just looked at each other and said almost simultaneously, "God will get us through this. He's always taken care of us before. He will again."

So we determined to trust God with this current circumstance. Within two weeks, my husband got an interview, and ten days later was employed with a new company. Given today's economy, the grim unemployment statistics, and the depressing news reports on TV, getting a new job in less than a month is nothing short of miraculous.

Before anyone thinks I'm bragging, let me tell you--yes, I am. I'm bragging on God, because He is the One to whom all praise is due.

Thanks for letting me share my heart.