For the Unemployed

Judith 8: 25-27

Besides all this, we should be grateful to the Lord our God, for putting us to the test, as he did our forefathers. Recall how he dealt with Abraham, and how he tried Isaac, and all that happened to Jacob in Syrian Mesopotamia while he was tending the flocks of Laban, his mother's brother. Not for vengeance did the Lord put them in the crucible to try their hearts, nor has he done so with us. It is by way of admonition that he chastises those who are close to him.

When these words are spoken, the Israelites are doing a specially difficult kind of waiting -- they are under siege and running out of water.  I thought this part of scripture might lift up those who are struggling with the agonizing wait of being unemployed.  It is a hard thing to accept, the suggestion to be thankful for our trials.

But we are not to simply sit.  Judith takes bold action that you might not expect after reading those words.  She dolls herself up in her finest outfit & jewelry, marches into the enemy camp, catches the eye of their leader, and ... well,

Judith was left alone in the tent with Holofernes, who lay prostrate on his bed, for he was sodden with wine...

When all had departed, and no one, small or great, was left in the bedroom, Judith stood by Holofernes' bed and said within herself: "O Lord, God of all might, in this hour look graciously on my undertaking for the exaltation of Jerusalem; now is the time for aiding your heritage and for carrying out my design to shatter the enemies who have risen against us."

She went to the bedpost near the head of Holofernes, and taking his sword from it, drew close to the bed, grasped the hair of his head, and said, "Strengthen me this day, O God of Israel!" Then with all her might she struck him twice in the neck and cut off his head.

She rolled his body off the bed and took the canopy from its supports. Soon afterward, she came out and handed over the head of Holofernes to her maid, who put it into her food pouch; and the two went off together as they were accustomed to do for prayer. They passed through the camp, and skirting the ravine, reached Bethulia on the mountain. As they approached its gates, Judith shouted to the guards from a distance: "Open! Open the gate! God, our God, is with us. Once more he has made manifest his strength in Israel and his power against our enemies; he has done it this very day." (Judith 13)

God's blessing on all those suffering under the siege of unemployment.  Do not despair, and do not abandon the spirit of boldness!