The Great Resignation of 2021… Good morning Hump Day readers. I hope you’ve had an encouraging week so far and if not, I’m hoping this devotion will get you over “the hump!”

I was interested in just how many people in the USA quit their jobs in the pandemic 2021-22. Wikipedia sums it up as: “The Great Resignation, also known as the Big Quit, is an ongoing economic trend in which employees have voluntarily resigned from their jobs en masse, beginning in early 2021, primarily in the United States…causes include wage stagnation amid rising cost of living, economic freedom provided by COVID-19 stimulus payments, long-lasting job dissatisfaction, and safety concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some economists have described the Great Resignation as akin to a general strike.”

You can read many versions on this mass resignation. Perhaps you are one of the resignees! For Al and I, we saw it daily at our campground in Abiquiu, NM. Adults sold homes, and are living in motorhomes because they can work anywhere…and so with—families! We had one family with 3 children, in a very large pop-up, that were going to be on the road for at least 3-5 years, home-schooling as they both were furloughed teachers. They took their kids to every museum, park, etc., you could imagine…not a bad education!

Others were truly living in their RV’s and converted vans because the loss of jobs resulted in foreclosure of homes, couldn’t pay rent, etc. Day after day we heard the stories that are part of this ‘great resignation’ and for the most part, believe it or not, folks were happy with their decisions, yet somewhat sketchy on their future. All this brings me to a story that I’ve used in past illustrations. I hope it encourages you!

“There was once a man whose life seemed characterized by failure. At the age of 22, his business failed. At 23, he ran for political office and was defeated. He turned to another business at 24, it failed. At 25, things started to turn around when he was elected to his state’s legislature, at 26 his love died. He had a nervous breakdown at 27 and was defeated in his run for yet another political office.

This series of defeats would continue until he finally won a seat in the U.S. Congress at 37. But that victory was followed by defeat for re-election at 39, defeat for election to the U.S. Senate at 46, defeat in his run for Vice President at 47, and then again for a seat in the Senate at 49. Finally!—at age of 51, Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United Sates. People of every walk of life credit him with holding America together during the country’s darkest moment in history. He also holds the 1st place of all our Presidents!”

We know Lincoln had a tough road, but had you ever taken a look at his time-line? Yet, he did not resign from life! He kept on, digging in his heels, knowing the Lord had plans for him, and he never looked back. I’m thinking these past two years with all the failures, setbacks, and suffering, it’s not a surprise folks have thrown their hands up in the air shouting “I quit!”

This brings me to another man, the Apostle Paul, whose life was more like the perils of Pauline than just about anyone. Yet, he wrote in Romans 5:3-4 [esv]:

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace
in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings,
knowing that suffering produces endurance,
and endurance produces character,
and character produces hope,
and hope does not put us to shame,
because God’s love has been poured into our
hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

There was no way Paul was going to resign because he knew God had his future already planned out and he believed that what God does is always good! “But Cyndy, in a pandemic time though?” you ask. I’ll reply YES because we saw it for 6 months in so many people who were determined to not let life sink them to the bottom of the ocean. I love one guy who comes often to the lake. He was 91 years old and it was driving his kids nuts that he was selling his home because the pandemic gave him the encouragement to get out in creation by living in his RV! “I am invigorated and so filled with life I can’t understand why I didn’t do this before” he would tell us. Can’t wait to see him this year in May.

If we derail God’s plans we lose so much. For many they aren’t sure, somewhat afraid of what God’s plans are for their lives. We cannot see into the future, but we know the One who holds our future, and like Abraham Lincoln, we get back up when life pushes us down.

God has a future and purpose for us to embrace. It’s our choice. For myself, I’m not much of a betting person, but I’ll give all the odds to God and take a chance on God more than anything else in this world. I’ll end with a quote that always gives me encouragement and a smile:
“You can do this.
You can persevere today knowing
that your hope for tomorrow is found in
the very One who holds your life in His hands.”