Have you reached your used by date?

In October 2010 I retired from the workforce after being in employment since 1964.
I had an amazingly diverse career.
Telephone Technician in Training,Drafting Assistant,Personnel or Human Resources Administration,Personnel Auditing,Telephone Sales Officer,Recruitment Officer, Internal Rehabilitation Counsellor in the workplace,Public Relations Officer,Employment Counsellor, Customer Service officer to disadvantaged groups eg; Unemployed,Drug Addicted, Mental Health issues,Physically Injured or ill,Ex Prisoners to touch on the main ones.

I have gone from my last job which was very intense in telephone interviews and intervention every day with many of the above who were in crisis to staying at home most days and not going out much .

This new line of activity was forestalled  for 3 months when a friend came to me for help and , as it turned out ,he had a very aggressive terminal  cancer illness,
It was going from one intense activity(paid employment) to another(volunteer) and I believe it was a God directed time for both my friend and myself.
He had had a tragic life in many ways.
I had been judgemental of him in the past and it was a time of healing for us both although he succcumbed to the Cancer.

We seem to need in our employment and which I miss, the sense of making a difference and being useful.

Since then my wife and I have spent a good part of each week baby sitting our delightful grandchildren.  We were doing this before my  retirement as well.
This is a time that we cherish and are amazed each day at how quickly they grow and learn and develop their  personalities.

Copyright Geoff Thompson. A day at the Beach

Some times ,when someone calls on the phone and in conversation we find a great personal need not being met, we are once again in the mode of being listeners,encouragers and prayers and at times material support.

So even though in some ways I have reached my "Use by date" in the paid workforce,(I could perhaps find paid work but don't feel so constrained at the moment,) I find that this is where God wants me to be.

 
The words of Oswald Chambers were relevant to me as I read this morning.
"Has God put you on the shelf deliberately?
Why cannot He be glorified by a man in the dust as well as in the sunshine?
We are not here to tell God what to do with us, but to let Him use us as He chooses.
Remember, God's main concern is that we are more interested in Him than in work for Him.
Once you are rooted and grounded in Christ the greatest thing you can do is to be.
Don't try and be useful; be yourself and God will use you to further His ends. "

From "Facing Reality" by Oswald Chambers as quoted in the book "The Quotable Oswald Chambers" by David McCasland


If you are feeling "left or put on the shelf" be encouraged and just immerse yourself in Jesus Christ and He will direct your paths.