THERE IS A SPECIAL bond that exists between those who have lost their job. About 10 months after leaving my job at a large hospital, Donna reached out to me. Donna had been a manager at the same hospital and lost her job shortly after me. She wanted to talk with me because there was an opening where she was working, and she thought of me, wondering if I would be interested.

As we talked, she gave me all the details of the position, and then I asked her how she was doing in her new job. She became so excited telling me about her new job and how well it was going. It was easy to see that she had found happiness; she was experiencing more joy than she had in her previous job. She said she felt like a plant that had been repotted. She realized that she had grown about as much as she could where we had worked together, and now in her new environment, she was growing at a more rapid pace.

I’m not much of a gardener myself, so I would never have thought of that analogy. But it’s a great one. My wife enjoys gardening and I’ve watched her nurse small plants into bigger ones by repotting them in a different pot or replanting them in a different spot where they will grow better. Left in too small a pot, the plant could never grow to its full potential.

I know that professionally, we also need growth opportunities, or we will grow stale. Maybe you had become stale in your position. Look at this opportunity as a chance to grow professionally and spiritually. Of the two, your spiritual growth is more important. It is my hope that through this process your faith will grow and for that you will feel thankful.

We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing (2 Thessalonians 1:3).

Remember, God provides all you need to grow.

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness (2 Corinthians 9:10).

I pray that when you land in your new position, you’ll see the fruits of your patience in the harvest.

This week’s blog is an excerpt from How Long, O Lord, How Long? Devotions for the Unemployed and Those Who Love Them , By author Dale Kreienkamp.