I have worked in the banking industry all my life but I decided to start my own business two years ago. But it all fell apart and I had to look for a job again. Eighteen months into my job search I had given up mentally although I was still sending out applications. I had sent out well over 100 applications; every job agent in Hong Kong, big and small, must have had a copy of my CV. All those applications only attracted two interviews, both of which rejected me in the end. Disappointment and despair increased with each failed job application. Our savings, from selling our flat a few years ago, were seriously depleted and I had a wife and two sons to feed. 

Our brothers and sisters in Christ were praying for us all. They kept telling me “...seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” However in my mind I thought: how does reading the bible, going to church and praying to God make me more marketable to employers? Will doing all these things decrease my age, erase the two year employment gap and make me fluent in Chinese suddenly? Surely I could better spend the time learning new skills or getting more qualifications

to make myself more marketable? Despite hearing testimonies of unemployed people miraculously finding jobs, I felt that these miracles always happened to others and not to me. I reminisced on all the failed job applications to support my belief.

I had nowhere to turn. Reluctantly I started to read the bible daily, worship at home with my family regularly, watch and read messages about God’s grace and his love for us. I even attended Cleansing Stream, prepared in advance for each bible study, prayed with our Christian friends and just enjoyed being in His Presence. Slowly, whether it was intentional or not, my focus shifted away from getting a job. I would look forward to time spent with God and I was actually feeling happier despite being jobless! My wife and I didn’t have arguments anymore. We all felt closer as a family.

Then God poured out his love for me and showed me what that bible verse meant. On the very last day of the Cleansing Stream course I received a call to attend a job interview. I had not even applied for this job! It was a referral by a friend of a friend who I don’t even know. Within two weeks I signed the employment contract for a new job that paid better and was a higher position than my previous job two years ago. The best part was that the job was not one that I had done before and was sick of. God gave me a job that I liked even though I didn’t know myself what job I would like! Now that I have been in my new job for a while, I realised that of all the jobs I had done before, this one is the one I am happiest in, in every possible way. 

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

 

Happy New Year!

 

Alan Chan

Late Morning Church member