Kam thought he’d be so happy now that he had the “perfect job.”
Six months into working for the new company and he’d already received his first promotion. What could be wrong with that?
And yet, as he sat next to his favorite aunt at a family gathering, she sensed that all was not so great with her young nephew, so she asked, “Kam, how are you doing? Congratulations on that promotion – I’m so proud of you!”
The expression on his face told Aunt Betty a lot, none of it good.
Later in the evening, Kam pulled his Aunt Betty aside. “I just don’t know what to do. These people I work for, my bosses, sure aren’t who I thought they were. I’m seeing a lot more now than I ever wanted to. But I wanted this promotion so much. The money means Jamie and I can start the family we’ve wanted. Before, we couldn’t afford to. But I just don’t know now.”
“Wow, Kam, that’s a tough one. So what you got isn’t quite everything you asked for, is that what you’re saying?”
“Aunt Betty, I thought all I wanted was this new job. It seemed so perfect. I guess I just didn’t see…didn’t hear…what people kept telling me. This promotion, well, it was supposed to set me up for a great future.”
Betty smiled. “Perfect? Lots of things can seem that way at first, Kam, and it’s so easy to be blind to things we don’t want to see, deaf to things we don’t want to hear.”
“Yeah, well, the ‘big boss’ told me if I didn’t like it I could just ‘step out’ and go someplace else. But what they’re doing is wrong. People are getting hurt. I’m really not comfortable being part of that. The more I think about it, maybe his ‘step out’ is really a huge ‘step up’ for me. I just don’t know. What a mess!”
Aunt Betty put her arm around Kam and gave him a hug. “Kam, often when I’ve ‘stepped out’ in faith, following God’s leading, I’ve discovered that I’m really ‘stepping up’ to a new, brighter future, even though I didn’t see it at first. I really believe it’ll be that way for you too. I can just feel it. And Kam…”
“Yes?”
“I’m so very proud of you. You’re asking the right questions, and God’s going to make a wonderful difference in this world through you. I’m certain.”
Kam did ‘step out’ of that job. His friends thought he was crazy to pass up all the pay, benefits and prestige of being the youngest CFO (chief financial officer) in the city. Jamie worried about how they’d make it financially, and if they’d ever be able to afford to start a family.
Aunt Betty was so right! Just three months later, Kam got a call. Would he be interested in being a candidate for a lead accounting position with a national corporation? Wow! He’d never even applied for the job, but he soon discovered that he’d built a solid reputation for integrity and honest because he’d ‘stepped out.’
Stepping out’ really was a huge ‘step up’ – literally!
Jesus had worked a lot of miracles among the people, but they were still not willing to have faith in him.
Even then, many of the leaders put their faith in Jesus, but they did not tell anyone about it.
The Pharisees had already given orders for the people not to have anything to do with anyone who had faith in Jesus. And besides, the leaders liked praise from others more than they liked praise from God. (John 12:37, 42-43)
Aunt Betty affirmed what Kam already knew. The praise and esteem of God is much more valuable, bigger and longer lasting than any human praise could ever be.
He had seen Christ at work in the lives of those he knew, and he put that belief into action.
It wasn’t easy. Those three months without a job were some of the longest he’d experienced in his whole life.
Resigning two weeks after receiving what should have been a dream promotion was one of the hardest things he’d ever done, but a year later when his old company was charged and convicted of serious financial crimes, he saw exactly where he’d have been ‘stepping’ if he’d stayed – and it wouldn’t have been pretty.