God’s ways are mysterious – how I lost my job and gained some relief

Image by © Patrik Giardino/Corbis

“For years, I’d been the breadwinner of my family, struggling to make ends meet while my husband hustled to find his feet. It was a frustrating time for us, especially as my husband desperately wanted to provide for the family and he couldn’t while I wanted to ease up on my financial struggles and stress but I couldn’t. There were bills to pay and a family to feed; it was tough and scary and many times, I would lie awake at night, worrying if ends would ever meet in my home.

It got scarier when one day, I got to work and met the news that I’d been fired as part of the company’s restructuring exercise. I couldn’t believe it. Minutes after my sack, I sat on my seat, waiting and hoping I would wake up from my bad dream but it was not a dream. I thought of my husband who was already going crazy from years of frustrated efforts, I thought about my kids and how much it cost to take care of them, I thought about my parents who depended on me, I thought about our financial situation and what my job loss would mean. Smiling weakly, I packed up my things and went to the car. I didn’t go far because the tears came down and all around me was a blur. I parked by the side of the road and started crying.

My mind went to all the prayers I’d said over time and I wondered if I’d used my mouth to bring this misfortune on myself. For as long as I could remember, I’d been talking to God about how tired and stressed out I was and how I wished I didn’t have to deal with all my worries, including my job, anymore. Was this not the result of my constant whining to God? It served me right.

Once I got home, I told my husband. Surprisingly, he didn’t say much; he just shrugged sadly and comforted me. When I expressed my fears about coping, he said we’d best take those fears to God. The best part was the way he comforted me, saying that he was sorry I lost my job but that he also liked that I could finally get some of the rest I deserved because I did so much for our family. Hearing my husband’s appreciation of my efforts to support our family gave me some comfort but still, I worried.

Within a few months after my job loss, some jobs came through for my husband – these were jobs he’d bid on almost a year before and we’d forgotten about when nothing was heard. Debts owed him and forgotten were paid and he got a consistently paying job via a friend’s referral. It all happened like magic.

Just like that, the doors in my husband’s life opened and he started working regularly. Without my asking, he would give me a percentages of all his payments received and ask me to help him decide how to save the rest. He was generous to a fault and I became wary of mentioning anything I liked in front of him as he would just buy it and give to me as a gift. Once I complained that I didn’t need something he gave me and would rather save the money, he shook his head and said all the gifts in the world could not make up for the way I supported him from the beginning and he needed to show his appreciation.

But the greatest thing of all was in the unexpected way in which God answered my prayers. He took away the situations (including my job) that overwhelmed me with stress me and blessed my husband with opportunities to balance it out. After being the breadwinner of my family for many years, I thought it was over when I lost my job but God had another plan. My life is not perfect now but it is so much better than I ever expected. Truly, my God works in mysterious ways. "