What world are you living in today? Are you in the past, the present, or the future today? I found that I was often stuck living in the past, back at my old place of employment. How about you, are you still at your job?

I was talking to my good friend Lynn, a consultant I’ve worked with for many years, and he said, “I’ve got a great scripture for you.” He looked up the verse on a note he’d made for himself and said it was Mark 6:11.

And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.

Such simple advice. So why was Jesus saying this to his disciples? He knew that when the disciples entered a town and began to preach, there would be times when people wouldn’t listen. When this happened, they would have two choices: either work extra hard and maybe if they stayed with it long enough, maybe, just maybe, the people would begin to listen; or go elsewhere. Jesus didn’t want them wasting their time on people who weren’t going to change; he wanted them to move forward with their important work. He knew that time spent trying to change people who won’t change was wasteful and would keep them from their goals. So, they were told to shake the dust off their feet and leave.

That was good advice for me, and maybe for you, too. Nothing I could do or say was going to change the decision that had been made regarding my job. It was already gone. Every moment I spent emotionally connected to that place of employment was keeping me from moving on. It was time to say to myself, “Dale, they don’t know what they had in you. It will be their loss that you aren’t there. You are so gifted, someone is going to be really lucky to get you at their company.” Everything didn’t magically change when I said it to myself—unfortunately, I needed to say it more than once, but after doing it a few times, it helped in moving me forward.

Once I moved out of the past, I moved into the present. The present is where God wants me to be and where he wants you to be. In the present, we’re only focused on him; we aren’t living in the past or worrying about the future. It’s just him and us. My best days are ones where I stay in the present and I’m at peace.

I encourage you to take some time to “shake the dust off your feet” and to “kiss your old job goodbye.” Give yourself a pep talk, reminding yourself of how gifted you are and what they’re missing not having you there.

Then move into the present and experience the peace only God can bring.

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.