The Second Job

   One of the many things I recall my father telling me never to forget was that, in responding to others, we might be the only Jesus they have ever known. I was recently reminded of these words when a business acquaintance told me of her need to find a second job: in fact, that was how our very first conversation got started.

   “I have to get a second job. Try as we might, my husband and I just cannot make ends meet. I read the other day that, to be able to live indoors, you have to have two jobs. Well, between us both, we already have two jobs, but with two young children it seems to us you need at least three jobs.”

   I had first seen Dawn through the window of her office which was in the next building to ours. You couldn’t fail to notice her. She was so effervescently cheerful it was infectious. We would wave to each other gleefully whenever I passed by, or as she was seated at lunch with her colleagues at the communal tables outside.

   One day, as I returned to the office late in the afternoon, I saw Dawn sitting alone at one of the tables. She looked as if the problems of the whole world had suddenly descended on her usually happy features.

   “What”s happened to Miss Sunshine today?” I asked, giving of my cheerful best, “is there anything I can do to help?”

   That was when she told me of her need for a second job. She also told me that, if she got one, she would not be able to take her young son to football practice or her little daughter to music lessons. It was in the course of that brief conversation – our first – that she told me her name was Dawn.

   Regrettably, a prior appointment meant I could not stay long, but I promised Dawn I would look for a second job for her in the course of my travels. I also told her I would do something else much, much more powerful: I would pray about her needs. I knew nothing about her beliefs, or even if she had any, but I remembered how the Bible urges us to come boldly to the throne of God that we may receive His mercy as well as find grace to help in time of need. Thus, I had no compunction in letting Dawn know that I would be asking God to bless her abundantly above all she could ask or hope. Dawn gave me an inquiring look that emboldened me to ask her to remember just these few words until we were next in touch; “The Lord”s my Shepherd, I have all I need.” “I have all I need, Dawn,” I repeated, “for now, hold on tightly to those words.”

   I did not let Dawn down. Wherever my travels took me, I asked about job opportunities, bringing back application forms whenever I could. But when I took her need to the Lord in prayer, I told our Heavenly Father that I did so only to keep my word to Dawn, not because my heart was truly into His granting me the prayer I asked of Him. I just felt so strongly that a loving Father would find a better way to meet her needs. After all, it was God”s beloved Son, Jesus Christ, who had said, “Let the little children come to me; don”t forbid them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these”. Would Jesus really want a mother not to be able to take her young son to football practice or her little daughter to music lessons? I didn’t think so.

   I also remembered from the Bible that, if we need wisdom, we should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault. But when we ask, we must truly believe He will answer: we must not doubt, because whoever doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. In such circumstances, we have no right to think we will receive anything from the Lord.

   Furthermore, I knew the Bible also taught that the wisdom God gives us is first pure, then peace loving, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good works, unwavering, and without hypocrisy. And those who plant seeds in peace will reap in goodness. And so I asked God for wisdom in meeting Dawn’s needs as I laid them at the foot of the cross where Jesus died, knowing they could not be in better or safer hands.

   Exactly two weeks later, the receptionist at the office told me that ’Dawn from next door’ would like a quick word. She had never done this before. I all but raced out to see her. Dawn’s smile lit up the entire office.

   “Won’t keep you,” she said breathlessly, “I’ll be waiting outside for you when you get off work. Cancel any appointments you may have. “Great things He has done.”” And with that infectious grin from ear to ear she was gone.

   I won’t pretend I was able to concentrate too closely on work for the rest of the day. I knew with heartfelt thanksgiving and barely contained excitement that a miracle had taken place and I longed to know what it was.

   Leaving work punctually, I headed for the communal tables expecting Dawn to be waiting for me. And there she was – with her husband, their young son, their little daughter and a beautifully laid out meal on a hard concrete table.

   “I’ve made us all an early dinner,” was Dawn’s heartwarming greeting, after which she introduced me to her family and asked if I would like to join them in giving thanks for the food. Grace was sung holding hands except for the little daughter who accompanied us on the recorder. It was an enchanting way to begin what proved to be the happiest of times spent together.

   I listened entranced as Dawn explained that a senior colleague in the office had announced that she would be leaving soon to start a family. Dawn had been offered her colleague’s job which represented a sizeable promotion with increased pay and benefits. Without my having to ask, Dawn said the extra income would mean she wouldn’t have to look for a second job and, yes, she would be able to take her young son to football practice and her little daughter to music lessons.

   When I was finally able to get a word in edgeways, I told Dawn how I had loyally asked God in prayer for that second job for her, but also that I had asked Him for wisdom in meeting her needs since I felt sure He had a better way of doing so.

   “And “Great things He has done” ”, said Dawn, smiling broadly. “ou see, it wasn’t just that you said you’d help me find that second job, you said you’d pray about it. Now I didn’t know how to pray at that time, but I did know I wanted to learn all I could as quickly as I could about a shepherd who would see that I would have all I need.”

   Dawn went on to say that, after our last encounter, she recalled a Christian bookstore near her home where she had once bought a card. She remembered how kind the staff had been. She stopped at the store on her way home and asked a very helpful assistant how she could learn all about, “The Lord’s my Shepherd, I have all I need.” She was told that was the 23rd Psalm in the Holy Bible, a copy of which the assistant helped Dawn to find. They had then read the psalm together. Noting Dawn’s enthusiasm for God’s Word, the assistant urged her to read and study it faithfully, to pray every day and to find a Bible-teaching church where Dawn could worship, fellowship and be of service.

   Dawn admitted quietly she didn’t know how to pray or of a church where she felt comfortable going with her family for the first time.

   The assistant told Dawn about the church she herself attended and said she would be glad to take Dawn and her family there next Sunday. The church was large and welcoming with something spiritual to offer for everybody. There were four services on Sundays, one on Saturday evening, and Bible studies every day of the week, all with childcare provided. There were also support groups, prayer meetings – especially helpful for Dawn, the assistant had volunteered – film evenings, retreats, missionary opportunities, even schools and a Bible college; in short, concluded the assistant, “I have all I need” just about summed up everything the church had to offer Dawn and her family.

   Accepting the assistant’s kind offer, Dawn and her family, dressed in their Sunday best, went to church the following Sunday and freely and happily confess it to have been a life-changing experience.

   Dawn spoke excitedly about seeing children and even babies being dedicated to the Lord; singing uplifting hymns along with a fine choir; participating in responsive reading of a psalm, and listening to a stirring message about goodness and love following her all the days of her life. “That message could have been written for me alone,” said Dawn with considerable feeling.

   She and her husband had gladly responded to the altar call at the end of the message, when they had received prayer and the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, “that great Shepherd of the sheep”. They had chosen a Bible study on Mondays and a prayer group on Thursdays, while Dawn had also put her name down to be of service in Sunday school. Already the whole family felt blessed beyond measure and all this even before news of the promotion in Dawn’s office had broken.

   With Dawn’s promotion, goodness and love had already started to follow her and her family. It was truly a blessing to see them acknowledging God’s loving kindness towards them.

   As the children’s bedtime approached, Dawn said she had to be on her way, but she wanted to give the last word to her young son who was keen to recite a poem he had been taught at Sunday school. Dawn said the words captured most beautifully the valuable lessons she and her family had experienced in just these past two weeks:

For further reading: Hebrews 4:16; Ephesians 3:20; Psalm 23; Mark 10:14; James 1:5-7; 3:17-18; Ephesians 2:8-10; Hebrews 13:20-21: