Uncertainty

I work for a great company.

I’m excited and thrilled to be a part of what we have put together.

I enjoy the relationships that I’ve built with my coworkers and our customers and the value that we are able to bring them.

But…

It’s a pretty big company, and they have multiple divisions and plenty of plates in the fire. Recently, there has been a LOT of change going on. A lot of reorganization, a lot of new management, and a lot of redistribution of resources amongst the different divisions. And our division has been pared down significantly, in numbers, in office locations, etc. So there are plenty of rumors and concerns going around amongst the troops about what might end up happening to us.

Will they sell us off?

Will our customers and contracts be bought off by someone who doesn’t need the staff?

There are all kinds of questions that come in an environment of uncertainty.

We’ve already seen some key co-workers leaving for other opportunities over the past year, and a reoccurring theme seems to be the uncertainty. Many chose this company because of its size, stability, and because it was slow to change. But when the perception changes to your division possibly being “on the outside”, a lot of that perceived value can shift quickly. And whether they are “paranoid, non-loyal ex-employees” or they are “rats abandoning a sinking ship” — or more likely somewhere in the middle — the change gets conversations started around the proverbial water cooler.

People like the illusion of certainty, the illusion of security, the illusion of control.

But we have to remember that we aren’t promised our desk will still be there tomorrow anymore than we are promised that we will wake up to another morning of breathing.

We could die today. A few miscalculations and misguided moves by the powers that be and we could all know the reality of nuclear war. A distracted glance at our phone on the drive home, and our lives here could come to a stop as quickly as that car coming to stop wrapped around a tree. So why do we insist on expectations of certainty?

There is a saying that, “Nothing is certain in this life but death and taxes.” But I’ll tell you that there are people that don’t pay taxes, don’t work, don’t contribute at all to society or to helping those around them, but that the government still pays them and takes care of them on some level. And Jesus Christ made a pretty wild promise that those who believe in him will have life everlasting. So we probably won’t even all agree on the absolute truth of that familiar saying.

So what do we do? Do we live worried, anxious lives — shuffling along like roaches from one shadow to the next hoping the blinding light of uncertainty won’t ever blind our gaze long enough for the foot of destruction to fall on us? Do we run to another opportunity, hopeful that we will leave before  we are forced by circumstances to leave when it isn’t convenient for us?

What do I do?

I do whatever it takes… I do my best… and I have to settle for where that takes me.

I do feel like I get to cheat on this one, because I have these promises that I believe that I can count on no matter what happens. I have something bigger than a specific company that provides for me. Yes, I’m one of those crazy Jesus followers who actually believes in the promises of a God that I can’t see or touch or taste or measure with scientific precision. So I know that the rain will come. And that doesn’t leave me lazy on the couch, but it encourages me to press on even harder and with a greater purpose.

Faith. It really does make a huge difference in my life.