As it happened, I didn't get laid off (if you read last week's bulleting and were wondering) but it was a very tough day at work Tuesday. Everyone had to come to work, even those who normally worked remotely or from home, and we all sat around in our offices hoping that they (management) wouldn't "come for us". That was how it worked, actually. Someone would be in their office, head down and hoping not to get tapped, when the boss would show up and say they needed to have a discussion in such and such conference room. Once there, you were handed a parcel of papers explaining your rights and benefits, and a few white cardboard boxes to pack your career away in. Your badge was taking from you, you got to hear lots of sympathetic chatter, but then you were eventually led back to your office so you could pack up and be escorted out of the building. I spent the day working until my boss came by and gave me the all clear, the word that I wasn't going to be laid off and that the layoffs were over, and then I bolted out of there as fast as I could arrange it!

Many friends that I have known and respected for years were laid off, but somehow I survived the axe. Not because I am so smart or so valuable, just because I was lucky enough to be on a project that is consistent with the direction my company is going. Some would say it was the providence of God, but I dunno. Solomon says the race doesn't always go to the swiftest, but chances happens to them all, and for a lot of things I believe that. Perhaps there was more going on there than I knew about, but in the end what really mattered is that regardless of how life treats me what am I going to do about it? It sure does help your "odds" though if you work as if working for God!

Our jobs can be a chancy thing. The number one thing polls show people desire in a job is not constant raises or promotions, not stellar benefits, and not challenging and exciting things to do, even in an environment where they are forever learning new things. No, the number one thing is security, the feeling that you won't be looking for a job again 6 months from now and have the ability to plan portions of your life. This is really quite a luxury when you think about it, because there are no real guarantees in life. Ok, so our jobs aren't secure but that doesn't mean our salvation can't be!

After all, we aren't saved because we were "lucky" enough to be in a group that is consistent with the direction God is going. If we are in such a group it is by design and choice. Salvation is simply not a matter of luck, not granted to some and taken from others because of any worldly measuring stick like intelligence or ability. Instead, we are given salvation because we choose to obey God. As long as we truly seek him, no one is going to show up, explain in soft soothing words why we can't go to heaven, and help us pack our lives away then escort us out of the presence of God. .

It was kind of like Matthew 24 that day at work, with one taken and another left. Except this time around you wanted to be the person NOT taken. Also, we knew what day it was coming, although there was not enough time left to do anything about it. Reading the scriptures really helped me get through the day. What was sad, and very similar I suspect to judgment day, was that some of those who I was sure would never get laid off did. On that final gathering before God there will be revelations and justice, but this was not the same at all. Several people who are hard working and loyal employees did lose their jobs. It cries out injustice, that the company made some mistake. It shook me up very much and reminded me that you simply can't trust in the "fairness" of this world. Here, we may strive to be doing the proper thing but man is fallible. God is perfect, his judgments sure, and only in him can we have confidence.

Randy