Posted on 01/29/2025 7:16:57 PM PST by Ciaphas Cain
I spent four years working as a mental health professional. I loved it immensely. There was not a single day that I wasn't going in and helping people in need. It was a job that had me wearing many hats. It was a job that I could have spent the rest of my life doing and be happy.
Then came the economic downturn. And despite my best efforts to keep my head above water I had to leave my dream job. That was just over two years ago.
What followed after that was a series of jobs that paid okay but were unreliable. Among others: I spent two days substitute teaching at a high school. On the second day during chemistry class I remarked that because of sodium's one valence electron it combusts when exposed to water. Which, it does.
This got to the principal and he had me dismissed on the grounds that I was teaching the kids how to manufacture high explosives.
Well, it's been hanging on by my fingernails, and I've had to be relying on help from others to stay afloat, to pay the rent and have food. I'm not only providing for myself, there is my dog too. I promised my father as he was dying that I would always take care of her, and I've tried my best to do that. Some years ago she and I spent a year traveling across America. I've tried to give her a good life.
I started a job this past June, in the food service industry with a fairly major company. I was doing very good too. The management raved about how great I was. And then they started cutting hours on everybody. I watched my assigned hours steadily dwindle until a month and a half ago when there stopped being any hours at all.
Panic set in. Worry. Anxiety. Utter fear. I had already been looking for a better job but kept coming up empty. And I've wondered if age (I'm 50) or my ethnicity has had anything to do with it. I was DESPERATE for honest work that would let me provide for me and my dog.
A few weeks ago I spotted a position advertised on Indeed. I applied for it. Much to my surprise they contacted me for an interview. Before it started I prayed, and asked God to be with me and that if this wasn't what He wanted for me, to please provide a job soon.
The interview was supposed to have lasted no more than 30 minutes. Mine went to 45. And I must have nailed it because a few days later they offered me the job! I very gladly and thankfully accepted.
There was one problem though. Paid training would start almost a month away. And I had no income to live on until then.
Good friends and family pitched in. People I NEVER want to cease being thankful for. Their help has sustained me. But I still needed more funds to use toward rent, and some utilities that were going to be shut off. And some other things.
For the past several days I haven't slept, so wrought with worry that I've been. I just couldn't see how God was going to be able to provide this time. The new job starts five days from now. The first paycheck is over a week after that. I had only enough money for some food, and not for anything more than that.
This morning I got a call from the phone company, telling me to pay my bill immediately or it would be disconnected. I was able to talk them down into letting me make a small payment, and that was eighty bucks gone.
There was nothing left for me. I'd come to the end of my rope and could see nothing past that. Finally, out of extreme desperation, I went to my bedroom and got on my knees at my bedside and begged God to please provide something. I really poured my heart out to Him, like I hadn't done in a very long time. Had there been no issues with medication I would probably have burst into tears. And for the worst moment I wondered what good were my prayers at all.
Then, like a soft still voice spoken to my heart, I hear something...
"Don't worry. Do not be afraid. I've got this."
Its so wild, but after that my heart felt at peace. For the first time in weeks the anxiety lifted. I felt almost like a whole new man.
Well, a few hours later... help came. And LOTS of it. Some people heard of my plight and chipped in. They donated more than enough to cover all the rent due next week, plus a few other expenses.
God has indeed provided! And He used some very remarkable people to do it through. My dog and I are going to get through to the first paycheck with no foreseeable problems. Our home is safe. We aren't going to lose power. We aren't going to starve.
At least twice more today I've been on my knees again, thanking God for his providing for us.
Like I said, the new job starts next week. And it will perhaps be the best one I've ever had. It involves working with autistic children, helping them come to communicate better. It is going to be helping people again just as I did at the mental health department. I plan to go to work on Monday morning as eager as anyone has ever been about starting a new job.
Maybe God needed me to go through the past two years practically impoverished. Perhaps He needed to teach me how to be more thankful for the blessings I've already had. And also to be more grateful to the people He has brought into my life who care for me.
So, a new job starts next week. One that will be personally rewarding and let me not have to worry about my financial situation. The rent will be paid and there is enough funding to get my dog and I through the next two weeks.
And I am so overwhelmed with being thankful that I have literally trembled at it.
Scripture urges us to share our needs with each other, and to rejoice together when God has done a great thing. Today, God did that. And I just had to share that.
Very special thanks to everyone who has lifted my dog and I up in prayer these past many months :-)
Awesome! God is wonderful.
“Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of your love”
God bless you. :)
God bless!!! Beautiful post. I’m so happy for you FRiend.
Thank you for your post. May God bless you and all those who have helped you in your time of need. And may your work with autistic children bear abundant fruit.
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful answer to prayer! We serve an awesome God!
Thank you for being a good witness.
So very happy your prayers were answered
Thank you for the praise report. So happy for you and your dog.😊🙏
GOD is GOOD all the time!
PRAISING THE LORD for your testimony!
I would love to see it published just for that :-)
Praise God! Thanks be to Him Who created us! He is good!
I am so sorry that you’ve been through so much despair and hardship, and for such a long time. I’m glad that your prayers were answered and that you and your dog are on a good path now.
I am thankful for you because you shared the “story” and how you managed to keep the faith. I send thanks to all who helped you through the fear and need. In my 91 years I’ve never known
a time when I didn’t trust that the Lord always comes when we call.
Thank you for sharing God’s amazing providence for you.
May God continue to bless you and keep you... may His face shine upon you and give you peace...
In my worst situation, a very deep valley, I never stopped praying... I ran to Him, not from Him...
I poured my soul out to Him... and He told me that He was in with me...
At that moment I felt a peace that surpassed all understanding...
He got my family through that dark night... and I too will never stop thanking Him... and praising His name to all...
I may not know what the future holds, but I have no doubt in who holds it...
Never stop praying... it is our greatest weapon against the darkness of this world...
A wonderful story, Ciaphas. I am glad to hear everything has turned out well. May God be praised.
After today going to do my best to never lose heart again.
What an uplifting post! God is indeed faithful, and hearing each other’s stories help remind us all of that. Thank you for praising God for us all to hear and praise Him too.
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