Job-hunting

By Wang Yu-hui

God's wisdom is indeed greater than man's. He had not ignored my prayers; He only wanted me to learn all the spiritual lessons I needed to learn in the school of His choice. I had to deal with my own stubborn personality as well as accumulate much needed professional experience.

A young calf

How time flies! It has been more than four years since I went to work at an accounting firm in Kansas City, Missouri. I still remember the arduous time of job-hunting as a new graduate and the anxiety I went through after two months of fruitless searching. But God had His plan and arrangements. I was introduced to the job at this accounting firm just a few days before graduation. And I was able to start work right after graduation. My workplace was within one mile of my apartment. I also wrote an article Job Hunting in Kansas, which was published in the 32^nd issue of Overseas Campus.

At that time I was totally inexperienced. 'Enthusiastic' would be a polite way to describe me and 'superficial' would be more accurate. To use a Biblical term, 'arrogant' was the right word. I remember my first day at work when W, a partner in the firm, came to me with two large boxes of documents. He said he would like me to go through them and be prepared to visit the client for auditing the following week. "Do you expect me to carry these two huge boxes?" I asked. W was taken aback; perhaps he hadn't expected me to challenge him like that. So he said he would carry one of them.

After this incident, I was given no more assignments for three months while my other colleagues were pretty much loaded down. The Bible says, "God opposes the proud." (James 4:6) God taught me a lesson through my boss. W. had gone to my manager H. and complained about me. Three months later H. had a one-on-one with me and criticized my bad attitude. I repented before God and confessed my errors to H. I asked for another chance, to which H. agreed. As the Bible says, "God gives grace to the humble." Our firm attracted a few new clients and at the same time some of the old-time colleagues left the firm. For these reasons, more and more opportunities came my way.

One day, eighteen months into my job, another partner P. assigned me a project and asked me to use a certain accounting software for the project. I was not familiar with this software and had difficulty completing the project. P. was dissatisfied and even threatened to fire me. I was scared. Back at home, I prayed tearfully to the Lord. The Holy Spirit comforted me with Psalm 23, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." My courage returned and I was able to handle my everyday work as well as the extra pressure from P. Later on, under the direct influence of H., P. changed his mind, but he asked me to learn and grasp the software in three weeks, in my spare time.

During this time I was working almost 13 hours a day. Through the comfort of the Scriptures, however, I was enabled to walk through this valley of the shadow of death. After three weeks I had become prroficient with the software and P. made no more trouble for me. Furthermore, God turned this incident into a blessing for me as later on this software became an indispensable tool for my work. This incident brought me closer to God. In the past, I had known that the Lord was my shepherd and that I could rest in green pastures and beside quiet waters. But I had never walked through the valley of the shadow of death before. I had always believed in my own talents and intelligence. But through this incident I discovered my own helplessness and limitations.

Unfair remuneration

H. helped me through these incidents. H. was a Jew, claiming that he belonged to the priestly tribe of Levi. Sometimes I felt that my relationship with H. was like the relationship between Jacob and Laban. Like Laban providing much needed help to Jacob, H. had given me a job when I needed it most. Jacob was a grasper but Laban was more cunning. The same could apply to H. and me. Laban changed Jacob's wages ten times and H. also played tricks on me during performance reviews. Jacob worked for Laban and Laban trained Jacob. Thanks to his experience of working for Laban, Jacob was transformed from Jacob into Israel, and from 'grasper' into 'Prince with God'... And in my case too, God had been training me through this firm. He taught me lessons about being humble and being friendly. From that time my work attitude improved greatly. Many brothers and sisters at the church also noticed that I had become more friendly than before. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." (Prov. 3:5) This has become a part of my life.

When H. repeatedly played tricks on me in performance reviews, I longed to find another job and get away from all this unfairness. But it wasn't easy to find another job. And my heart was filled with a sense of resentment, hatred and self-pity. I had no peace. Everyone in the firm seemed to be against me and I had difficulty sleeping at night. I even complained to God about why He was not providing me with a way out of it all. Why was it so hard for me to find another job while it seemed quite easy for everybody else ? Through prayer the Holy Spirit comforted me and I began to realize that the time had not come and that I still had spiritual lessons to learn.

I always had a prayer time at lunchtime at work. The Holy Spirit led me to pray for H., P. and W. I thought it was generous of me not to ask God to curse them, but that I would never be able to pray for them. Nevertheless, the Holy Spirit repeatedly reminded me of the teachings of the Lord Jesus, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you... Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Finally I obeyed the Holy Spirit and started praying for them and asking the Lord to bless them. Through these prayers, I became free again. I no longer hated them and once again everyone seemed to start being pleasant to me. I was able to eat and sleep again. I corrected my attitude and my newfound joy showed in my face. From then on every time I had lunch at work, I would pray for everybody in the firm, whoever they were, friend and foe alike.

A new job

Thanks to my improved attitude, I stopped complaining to the Lord. Rather, with thankful heart I told the Lord my needs through prayer. Then the Lord began to work and my interpersonal relationships improved greatly. My managers were willing to help me at work., and the Lord also gave me wisdom to carry out my tasks well. I had gained a lot of professional experience too and I quickly became a key individual player. Although H. was still paying me less than I deserved, I put my trust in God's justice that he would open up new opportunities for me.

In May, one of my former colleagues T. called me. She said that for personal reasons she would not be able to keep on working and asked if I wanted to take her position. She worked for a tiny company that I had never heard of. I didn't take it very seriously but sent in my resume anyway. Soon they made an interview appointment with me. They said they would be willing to help me apply for my green card and they could even give me a generous promotion along with a market-value salary. They even agreed to start the green card application process before I formally started work with them and they would be responsible for all the legal fees. I could hardly believe it was all true. So in a fraction of a moment, the Lord gave me all I had dreamed of.

Following the interview, I went home with my heart full of praise and thanksgiving. The Lord's wisdom is indeed greater than man's. He had not ignored my prayers; He only wanted me to learn all the spiritual lessons I needed to learn in the school of His choice. I needed to deal with my own stubborn personality as well as to accumulate much needed professional experience. It was not until then that the Lord finally led me out.

Sometimes I felt that the Lord was being too harsh with me and I would pray to Him in the words of Job, "Turn away from me so I may have a moment's joy before I go to the place of no return." (Job 10:21) But the Holy Spirit answered me with Hebrews 12:5-6: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." I did not feel any joy while I was being disciplined; instead there was bitterness. However, as I stepped out under the Lord's guidance, my heart was filled with peace.

The author is from Guangzhou. He is now an accountant in the State of Missouri.