“Hear me, Lord, and answer me,

for I am poor and oppressed.

Preserve my life, for I am loyal;

save your servant who trusts in you.

You are my God; pity me, Lord;

to you I call all the day.”

(Psalm 86: 1-3)

Uncertainty, it is a word that is definitely in the lexicon of any worker in the American workplace.  It is especially true for anyone who suddenly finds himself or herself laid off from the job, unemployed.  There was a time that the longer you were with a particular company or firm, the more certain you were that your position was reasonably safe.  In today’s business world, that is no longer the case.  Five years or nineteen years on the job, we all can find ourselves escorted out of the office, with our personal belongings in a box or bag.  We all can be standing on the street, wondering, what next?  We all can be struggling with the sudden loss of certainty in our lives.

I was laid off in January, 2015, and I have been on the job search since then.  I have been scanning the Web, looking at online job boards, filling out electronic job applications, and sending them out.  Checking my e-mail box daily, and hoping that the phone will ring; and so far there have been no hits.  I get dressed up and go to job fairs; I walk around scanning the tables.  If I am lucky, I might find one table that offers possible positions that match my knowledge and experience.  So I leave a resume, and hope for a call.  In the meantime, my wife and I are taking steps to reduce the draw on our resources.  So what our lifestyle will be in the future is also uncertain.

There can be so much uncertainty in one’s life, that it can wear a person down, and there are times that I can identify with the psalmist who the above words.  These are the times when I turn to prayer, to reflection on Scripture, reflecting on the beauty of God’s Creation, to let a little light in, and experience some hope, some peace; the peace that comes only from God.