Humans were designed to work. It’s part of the creation mandate. The call to tend the earth, rule over the created order is at the very core of what it means to be a person in God’s image (Genesis 1:26). And most of us know that. It feels ‘right’ deep within us to be active and productive in meaningful labour. When work is absent part of our raison d’etre disappears.
Unemployment hurts because it takes away part of our purpose.
But it’s more than that. Unemployment hurts because everything to do with work hurts – to a greater or lesser extent. The world of work is not easy. Not at the moment anyway. It may have been a joy for Adam to be set free in the Garden of Eden but we live post-fall. We have to live with the effects of God’s curse on his rebellious creation. And that means living in a world where work hurts. Just as Adam’s work moved from joy to thorns, pain and sweat (Genesis 3:17-19) so all aspects of work – its presence or absence – are inevitably difficult, broken and tainted.
Unemployment hurts because all aspects of the working world are tainted by sin and under God’s curse.
There are personal aspects too. The lack of a job makes it hard to fulfil the important role of providing for one’s family. 1 Timothy 5:8 makes for hard reading(and it should be acknowledged that this verse was written to those who were choosing not to support their families rather than those unable to do so despite their best efforts) but it makes an important point: Christians are people who take the responsibility of looking after the needs of their family (both blood relations and brothers and sisters in Christ) very seriously.
Unemployment hurts because it hinders us from looking after those we care about most.
But there’s another aspect too. One that makes for rather more uncomfortable reading. One that I have to type with a sense of humility because when I experienced unemployment many years ago, it was certainly true of me. The pain associated with the lack of a job exposes the sinfulness of our hearts in new and, at times, deeply distressing ways. It confronts us with the reality that maybe we don’t see God as sovereign over all things, maybe we don’t trust him to provide for our needs (Matthew 6:26), maybe we like the idea of solving our own problems rather than turning to prayer, maybe we find our value in what we do rather than who we are in Christ, or maybe we discover that harbouring a sense of injustice comes far more easily to us than forgiving and loving.
Unemployment hurts because it reveals the idols of our hearts and confronts us with our sin.
The pain of unemployment is real. But assuming God’s promise to bring good out of all situations is true (Romans 8:28) - and I would want to be confident that it is - then the pain of unemployment is also an opportunity for growth and a gate to a deeper understanding of the creator who adores us.
Helen Thorne is Director of Training and Resources at Biblical Counselling UK. She formerly worked with the London City Mission and has written Hope in an Anxious World, Purity Is Possible, Walking with Domestic Abuse Sufferers and 5 Things to Pray for Your City. She attends Dundonald Church in Raynes Park, London.
