Being a college graduate and still in graduate school has kept me personally “out of the storm” of the job market crisis. I have, however, spent many hours listening to and witnessing my best friends’ struggles.
The first year after graduation is the “honeymoon phase,” where getting a paycheck is equivalent to finding the golden ticket. Then, after an amount of time, my friends kind of hit a brick wall. The second year consists of sayings like “What was I thinking when I took this job?” and “I will not be doing this my whole life.” Watching the transition is quite humorous but also heart-wrenching.
The common theme among those that come to me is “How am I affecting the world for God in what I am doing?” This question has come from every job market out there: from maintenance worker to corporate banker to the unemployed. This “identity crisis” is rampant among the American, and furthermore, human, population. What is our purpose? How are we affecting the kingdom of God?
After seeing so many people struggle around me with this inner turmoil, I thought and prayed about this significantly. My conclusion is this — We can’t all be Billy Graham or Mother Teresa, but we all as Christians are representatives and advocates for Jesus. We might be the only piece of Jesus that people see. In terms of affecting the Kingdom, it does not matter what our job is or what our current financial situation is; what matters is what we do with our situations. We don’t have to be Bible beaters to affect the Kingdom. When you are representing Jesus like He wants us to, people will notice something different about you, something infectious that people are going to want to be a part of.
Whether one is unemployed or a CEO of a Fortune 500 company, how we react in those situations is how we affect the Kingdom. God has placed each and every one of us in our current situations for a reason, and we all have the responsibility, better yet, the privilege to carry Jesus’ name and affect people with love, friendship, loyalty, integrity, character, etc.
God loves each of us, and the least we can do is reflect that love to those around us.
Justin Palmore
Birmingham, Ala.
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