At an event with JP, the billionaire who started the company 30 years ago.

I’ve been with my company for over two years now, and I have to say it’s an amazing and unique place to work, where I’m continually thankful for the opportunities I’ve already been given to learn, the people I’ve had the privilege of getting to know, and the financial stability that has been provided. My desire is that I’ll continue building caring and beneficial relationships here, not to mention expanding my knowledge of technology in computers as I’m always finding out how much I still don’t yet understand in the vast world of information technology.

What I’d like to briefly share here is a summary of how things fell into place when I was job searching, because I think it’s worth writing down for some friends who might be encouraged by the account, and equally it’s a reminder to myself about how God has been faithful.

I was a full-time college student with a part time job at another company. It was a great situation; being on the cutting edge of Microsoft’s newly improved SharePoint software technology for business communication and collaboration, and I was working with great people including my boss at the time who I still enjoy meeting up with for lunch these days when we get the chance. That company’s corporate headquarters had just been moved from across the United States into my city, and I was taking on a more crucial role within the organization to roll-out this new project company-wide while slowly training key individuals on how the new system would become an efficient tool in the way the company did business. They made it clear that they wanted me to stay in the position, but during a time of economic uncertainty, the company let me know that they just wouldn’t be able to hire full-time.

Sad to hear this, I accepted the news and started looking around for a full-time position. In the back of my mind there was a thought of that offer I received over a month before that from someone at Paul Mitchell who had found my online resume through my buddy Shay’s profile on LinkedIn.com. I sent over a carefully written email, checking if by some small chance the company was still looking to hire after I had already declined their previous offer. They were interested, so we set up an interview. I was pretty nervous after not having done an interview for a couple of years, and it showed. I talked with the guys for over an hour as they asked a lot of questions that I didn’t feel confident about how to answer. Driving away from the building I basically accepted the fact that I wasn’t going to be invited back, because I must have failed the interview by being nervous and not knowing the answers.

But soon after, I received a phone call from them asking if I wanted the job. I was shocked–what about the bad interview? I told them yes, I accepted the offer, and called my family to share the exciting news. At some point I remembered that God had provided all this, so I thanked him, and felt dumb about forgetting how I had prayed for a good outcome without first coming back to thank God for giving me exactly what I wanted. So that all went down on a Friday afternoon.

Along came Monday. The company I was about to step away from approached me, but this time explaining how important my position was after the CEO of the company saw my big project, and asked what it would take to keep me there. Wait… what now? How was I supposed to respond? I had just accepted the new position. Maybe I could just call back Paul Mitchell and apologize for the change in circumstances. Oh sure, but hadn’t I already given them my word? Should I stay true to that?  But…what if  the new job fell through and left me without one? Plus, the people at the current job were finally becoming familiar, and I don’t like being in completely new situations, so why don’t I just stay comfortable and go back on my word? And they were even letting me name my salary figure, how could I leave them?

No, I knew that God was in control, as he’s always been throughout the other choices I’ve been faced with in life, so he must have a reason for this. I had already told the new company that I accepted the position, and it was my own fear of the unknown that was making me hesitant. I really wanted to stay comfortable, but if this was what God wanted to use to help me grow, then alright, I would follow. There were plenty of doubts in my mind, but it was decided: I declined the offer to stay on board, and said goodbye to the comfortable and familiar position. If God was faithful in providing for me up until this point, He would certainly honor what little weak faith I had at this moment of trust in him. He had a plan, of course, as he always does, even though it’s not often that I get to see so clearly after two good years the result of one little decision to step out of my comfort zone.

The one small decision wasn’t whether or not I’d accept the new job–it was whether or not I’d trust in God’s faithfulness. I could’ve stayed in a comfortable situation, but missed out on all these new relationships and learning opportunities.

So I know these are rough economic times, and many of my friends are having a hard time finding a job, but I still wanted to share this story of how God was faithful, because he’s still that way regardless of whether you’re stuck in a difficult job or you’ve been searching non-stop for months. He will provide grace somehow to those who know Him, even if that’s not in the form of money. If God told the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that “My grace is sufficient for you” when Paul was disappointed in his own weaknesses, then certainly God’s grace is sufficient for this situation, not to mention how Paul went through physical beatings, imprisonment, being shipwrecked, being kicked out of cities, and other incidents during which he still held fast to faith in the Lord. One last thing: although I’m talking about God honoring my decision, it should be obvious that He’s the hero of this story, so keep that in mind, otherwise you’ll be pretty disappointed when you see how often I fail in the decisions I make. He’s the only one you can fully trust.

*Disclaimer: the views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer (John Paul Mitchell Systems).

.

“The uncompromising spirit of Olympic sprinter and Scotsman Eric Liddell was made famous by the award-winning film Chariots of Fire. For months Liddell trained to run the 100-meter dash at the Paris Olympics in 1924. Sportswriters across Britain predicted he would win. But when the schedules were announced, Liddell discovered that the heats for his race were to be run on a Sunday. Because he believed he would dishonor God by competing on the Lord’s Day, he refused to enter the race.

Eric’s fans were stunned. Some who previously praised him called him a fool. But he stood firm. Professor Neil Campbell, a fellow student-athlete at the time, describes Liddell’s decision:

Liddell was the last person to make a song and dance about that sort of thing. He just said, “I’m not running on a Sunday”–and that was that. And he would have been very upset if anything much had been made of it at the time. We thought it was completely in character, and a lot of the athletes were quietly impressed by it. They felt that here was a man who was prepared to stand for what he thought was right, without interfering with anyone else, and without being dogmatic. (Sally Magnuson, The Flying Scotsman [New York: Quartet, 1981], 40)

Unlike the film version, which takes dramatic license with the facts, Liddell knew about the heat schedule months before the Olympics. He also declined to run in the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 meter relays, races that he had qualified for, because their heats also were to be run on Sunday. Since he was such a popular athlete, the British Olympic Committee asked if he would train to run in the 400 meters–a race he had performed well in before, but one he’d never considered seriously. He decided to train for it and discovered that he was a natural at that distance. His wife, Florence, says of his decision, “Eric always said that the great thing for him was that when he stood by his principles and refused to run in the 100 metres, he found that the 400 metres was really his race. He would not of known that otherwise” (Magnuson, 45).

Liddell went on to win the 400 meters and set a world recordi n the process. God honored his uncompromising spirit. But what was there about Eric Liddell that gave him the resolve to stand firm with his decision in spite of the pressure from the authorities and the press? The filmmakers of Chariots of Fire unknowingly provide the answer in a scene dramatizing the British Olympic authorities’ attempt to change Liddell’s mind about running in the 100 meters. After their unsuccessful attempt, one of the men comments, “The lad… is a true man of principle and a true athlete. His speed is a mere extension of his life–its force. We sought to sever his running from himself.” In spite of the writer’s labeling God as a generic “force,” the statement is true. The Christian life cannot be lived apart from God. To do so is to compromise your very being.

That’s where the power of integrity begins. Only as you and I derive our being from our relationship with Christ can we ever hope to live like He did, suffer like He did, to withstand adversity like He did, and to die like He did–all without compromising…”

- From the opening chapter of  The Power of Integrity: Building a Life Without Compromise by John F. MacArthur. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1997.

The question was asked by a man to a woman, “Would you sleep with me if I gave you a million dollars?” and the woman, knowing that the man definitely could pay up, agrees that she would. He then asks her the question “Would you sleep with me for $5?” and she immediately responds, “No! What do you think I am?” to which he replies, “Oh we’ve already determined that, we’re just negotiating the price.”

I heard this story (forgive me for not remembering the specifics) a few years ago from Dr. RW Mackey, one of my business class professors at The Master’s College. I spent awhile thinking through and typing up my thoughts, but rather than publish them, I’m just going to let the story stand for itself. I trust you can get something out of it.