Finding a job

He desperately needed a good job. Never in his life had he been so down and out. In the depths of despair he began to reason clearly and decided to make a move that might have looked as if he were backtracking. Yet he had the humility to go ahead, and the outcome was deeply satisfying.

This story of the prodigal son n1 provides a helpful illustration for anyone today who is looking for a better job or does not have one at all. True, the prodigal's circumstances may have been different from our own, and he returned home to his father, not to a job. But doesn't the parable show us that no matter how bleak our prospects appear, we can be guided rightly and find what we need?

n1 See Luke 15:11-32.

In Christ Jesus' parable, things started looking up when the youth came to his senses and turned his thought toward his father for help. The figure of the father illustrates the love and care our heavenly Father, divine Love, has for all His children. Each of us can turn to God for help and guidance and find proof of His care.

In reality, each one of us is God's offspring and expresses the divine nature in his own unique way. This is manifest humanly as individual abilities and talents. Someone with a concept of design and beauty might be an architect; another, using the qualities of accuracy and methodical reasoning might be a computer programmer; someone else, with strength and agility, could well be an athlete. God, Love, is not only the source of these talents but provides the appropriate channels for their expression.

Man is not confined to mortality, limited by a depressed economy, by age, by inexperience, or by physical location. In truth, he is God's spiritual, immortal image, as the Bible indicates. Discerning this truth and trusting it, we'll gain increasing dominion over material conditions and rise to a higher sense of activity and usefulness.

Suppose you're trained in a certain field and keen to work, but after exhausting all the possibilities, you're in despair. This happened to a friend of mine. She was looking for a job where she could better express several developing talents, but the field seemed limited and highly competitive. She felt utterly frustrated until she realized that she hadn't included God in her plans. At this point she too came to her senses and saw that she'd been outlining what she wanted to do rather than letting God's guidance prevail in her life. Remembering the Lord's Prayer, she prayed, ''Thy will be done.'' n2

n2 Luke 11:12.

Instead of continuing her fruitless search for a job, my friend took time to pray and to listen for God's direction. She took the Bible and a copy of the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, n3 and studied until her panic was replaced by a feeling of peace. She knew that God, divine Love, was caring for His children - and this care included her - and that the needs of those seeking to express His qualities as well as those searching for people with these abilities, would be met. She read in Science and Health: ''Love inspires, illumines, designates, and leads the way. Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action.'' And further on: ''Wait patiently for divine Love to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept. Patience must 'have her perfect work.' '' n4

n3 Mrs. Eddy is the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science.

n4 Science and Health, p. 454.

Within a short time a friend who did not know of her need told her of a vacancy that had not yet been advertised. She was interviewed and was given the job.

Whether you're looking for temporary work, a full-time career, or simply a change of focus, your experience can be just as satisfying. When the job hunter replaces doubt and fear with trust in God's direction and His unfailing love for His beloved child, avenues that may have been unnoticed before open to him. DAILY BIBLE VERSE Eye hath not seen, nor eat heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. I Corinthians 2:9