On September 8th, 2015, the leadership team at my job scheduled a meeting on my calendar entitled as an “End of Summer Check In” meeting. Just as the rest of the staff, I was under the impression that this meeting was to speak about how the summer went. I had just successfully utilized a lot of my own resources to launch a new region here in Chicago for my company that served 100 students across the city so it made perfect sense to meet and discuss things. When I entered into the meeting, two women from the leadership team happily informed me that our company was having a reorg and that I would now have a new role at the company. Immediately following this announcement, they added that I had the option to either relocate to the New York City or San Francisco office but I could no longer live in Chicago since it was not a region where the majority of my colleagues resided.
After ongoing prayer and supplication I knew that making the move to New York City or San Francisco with this company was not an option for me (I believe that God made this clear with a series of things I underwent as time carried on). Once I knew that my decision was a “no” and I had to let my job know this, I began to panic. After witnessing so many people being let go or leave the company in the short time that I had been working with the company, I was certain that I would be fired immediately.
After ongoing prayer and supplication I knew that making the move to New York City or San Francisco with this company was not an option for me (I believe that God made this clear with a series of things I underwent as time carried on). Once I knew that my decision was a “no” and I had to let my job know this, I began to panic. After witnessing so many people being let go or leave the company in the short time that I had been working with the company, I was certain that I would be fired immediately.
I come before you today standing in May of 2016 having told my company that I would not be relocating for them and I am still employed. I come before you today now knowing that God has blessed me with the opportunity to be employed by the same company through the end of August although no one else from my original team is still at the company or had the type of offer on the table that I have been blessed with. I come before you today, not knowing what the end of August may hold, but knowing that wherever I may be is by the grace and mercy of God, and that is something to not ever have to worry about. I come before you today after shedding tears, complaining and even questioning God’s decisions, finally at a place of total serenity because I recognize that God has a plan to refine and strengthen me through this season. To any readers out there who have been job hunting day in and day out but you still have not landed the job, this blog is for you. To any readers out there who have been on the interview where they left feeling like they were certain that they got the job only to find out later that the company decided to pursue other candidates, this blog is for you. To any readers out there who have suffered from a disastrous company reorg and has been laid off, this blog is for you. To any readers out there who are currently worried because they feel confined in a situation that is out of their control, this blog is for you. I’ve been there, I am there, and you are not alone.
There has been an essential concept that I have found necessary to keep me going during this season of my life and I hope that me sharing it will be helpful to you.
There has been an essential concept that I have found necessary to keep me going during this season of my life and I hope that me sharing it will be helpful to you.
FOCUS & ENDURE: In the midst of it all, remain focused on GOD and the blessings that are already right before you. Stop sweating the small stuff and push through it.
After finding out about my companies reorg and being asked to suddenly move, I went through a series of emotional phases. It wasn’t that I no longer believed that God still had me covered (and believe me, God always has us covered), it just became difficult to maintain my focus when the things before me began to shift unexpectedly. I remember crying, feeling anger and frustration, complaining, negatively venting, etc. I will be the first to admit that none of this led me anywhere besides further away from focusing on God and the blessings right before me.
I couldn’t possibly begin to explain the importance in having a good supporting team on your side when you hit this sort of season in your life. You need incredible people in your corner who believe in you, genuinely want to see you excel, and don’t mind pouring into you no matter how redundant it may begin to seem (this is often a place where God will allow you to discover who your real supporting team is). Once my supporting team helped me get back on my feet, I was able to regain my focus and in doing so I reached a calm space that even my slightest level of worry or concern couldn’t tamper with. Focusing on God and the blessings right before me helped me understand that change and rejection are inevitable and rather than looking at them as defeat or loss you have to embrace them as a launching pad that God has set you on to get you closer to your Destiny.
After finding out about my companies reorg and being asked to suddenly move, I went through a series of emotional phases. It wasn’t that I no longer believed that God still had me covered (and believe me, God always has us covered), it just became difficult to maintain my focus when the things before me began to shift unexpectedly. I remember crying, feeling anger and frustration, complaining, negatively venting, etc. I will be the first to admit that none of this led me anywhere besides further away from focusing on God and the blessings right before me.
I couldn’t possibly begin to explain the importance in having a good supporting team on your side when you hit this sort of season in your life. You need incredible people in your corner who believe in you, genuinely want to see you excel, and don’t mind pouring into you no matter how redundant it may begin to seem (this is often a place where God will allow you to discover who your real supporting team is). Once my supporting team helped me get back on my feet, I was able to regain my focus and in doing so I reached a calm space that even my slightest level of worry or concern couldn’t tamper with. Focusing on God and the blessings right before me helped me understand that change and rejection are inevitable and rather than looking at them as defeat or loss you have to embrace them as a launching pad that God has set you on to get you closer to your Destiny.
Jeremiah 12:5 NKJV states, “‘If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, Then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, In which you trusted, they wearied you, Then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan?’”. This scripture brought shivers through my entire body when I read it. I mean God is basically asking, if you can’t roll with the little-dogs (being a person who faces minute warfare that doesn’t kill you), then what makes you think that you would be able to roll with the big-dogs (become the person who I have called you to be that is elevated to a higher level and will face greater warfare)?
If we are allowing our warfare to burden and overwhelm us now then how could we possibly be ready to receive the greater blessings ahead that God have in store for us? To those of you reading this, I want you to know something that I somehow seemed to forget momentarily through this season of my life: you are powerful, you are royalty and you are God’s masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10 NLT). God wants nothing but the best for you and we are reminded of this in Jeremiah 29:11 NIV, “‘For I know the plans I have for you’, declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’”. God has strategically positioned you where you are right now to help set you up for where you are going. Stop letting the pressure of life get the best of you. Stop letting the devil sike you out and make you think that you are anything less than what you actually are.
Endure through this season even when you don’t know what the end may hold. Endure because you trust God. Endure because you know what God is capable of simply by looking over your life thus far. Endure because you know that God will use you and this particular season to bless others. Endure because this will make you stronger. Endure because this is only the beginning of the race and God has plans for you to win. “...Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith....” (Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV).
Endure through this season even when you don’t know what the end may hold. Endure because you trust God. Endure because you know what God is capable of simply by looking over your life thus far. Endure because you know that God will use you and this particular season to bless others. Endure because this will make you stronger. Endure because this is only the beginning of the race and God has plans for you to win. “...Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith....” (Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV).
Prayer:
We come before you today wanting to thank you for being our heavenly father. Thank you for having a desire to see us soar. Thank you for having a plan over our life that exceeds our greatest heart desires. We pray that as we go through this season of our life that you begin to build and multiply. Build and multiply our time spent in your word, our prayers, our commitment to things/people that you have assigned us to, our wisdom, our strength, our peace, multiply our passion, our prosperity, our humility, our character, our patience, our finances, our focus, our level of discernment, and our drive to keep pushing while we run the race in spite of our problems. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
We come before you today wanting to thank you for being our heavenly father. Thank you for having a desire to see us soar. Thank you for having a plan over our life that exceeds our greatest heart desires. We pray that as we go through this season of our life that you begin to build and multiply. Build and multiply our time spent in your word, our prayers, our commitment to things/people that you have assigned us to, our wisdom, our strength, our peace, multiply our passion, our prosperity, our humility, our character, our patience, our finances, our focus, our level of discernment, and our drive to keep pushing while we run the race in spite of our problems. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.