Micah set out to make it in the world—with a degree, ambition, and the belief that success was just a matter of building on the right foundation. Three and a half years after his college graduation, it all lay in ruins. He had his own apartment, a nice car, a steady girlfriend, and a good job, which held it all together. Once he lost the job, all the other dominoes followed suit. However, what he was about to learn would set him free.
He studied business in college and graduated with honors. That is where his pursuit of success began to take shape. He knew exactly what he wanted: a high-paying job that brought him fulfillment. He believed if he could lay that foundation, everything else would fall into place.
He landed an entry-level billing job at one of the most powerful law firms in the city. The earning potential was extraordinary. Within a few months, he slid into a luxury apartment and financed a car that made his friends jealous. Then, the firm hired Janine, a beautiful young paralegal.
Micah and Janine hit it off from the start. Before long, they were at lunch together every day and became serious about a month later. Everything seemed to be going well for Micah, but two things caused him concern. His job was not advancing him as quickly as he wanted, and Janine seemed more ambitious than he was.
About five months ago, he told Janine he wanted to get married once he got his next promotion. Janine liked the sound of that. Once Micah realized his current job would not offer him the opportunity to advance anytime soon, he began applying for jobs with competing firms. But lawyers talk. News quickly made it back to his boss.
It wasn’t long before Micah was fired due to his disloyalty to the firm. Of course, that is not the reason they gave him for the termination. They compiled a list of small mistakes he had made over the past three years. These missteps were of no concern to them before he began looking for employment elsewhere, but the firm used them to evidence the death of a thousand cuts.
Shortly after they let him go, he sat in his apartment and realized how fast it was all crumbling around him. His bank account began to drain, and his luxury apartment suddenly seemed out of reach.
That was six months ago, and Micah still hasn’t found a job that could compare to what he had. This difficulty in the job hunt is partly because his first employer had taken a chance on him, giving him the position, though he did not have the required experience. It was also partly because he had to explain that he had been fired from his previous position in every job interview.
Micah felt like a failure. His parents, his friends, and countless others he observed had never lost jobs. He wondered how he could have been so stupid. Every new job rejection rang in his ears like a bell telling the world to notice his inadequacy.
Within months, he traded in his car for a 15-year-old Corolla with a large dent in the rear fender. Whenever he drove it, he felt like it broadcasted to the world that he’d wrecked every hope he once carried.
He later moved out of his apartment and back into his old bedroom at his parents’ house. It felt less like moving back in and more like being escorted out of the world to which he thought he belonged.
Since then, Micah took a temporary job as a stock clerk at a tool store. His manager liked him and planned to move him up to a management position soon, but Micah had never considered retail a “real job.”
Janine had bigger dreams and moved on shortly after he started at the tool store. She loved him and would have been okay with his new job if it was only temporary, but she couldn’t handle how much he had fallen apart. Hard times came, and she needed someone more resilient.
He was at his lowest point. It was the middle of the business day, and his shift did not start until 2 p.m. The house was empty because his parents were at work. He still hadn’t showered or dressed for the day. Sitting in front of the TV, he wondered where he went wrong. How did he end up so defeated?
He decided he had better grab a quick bite before getting ready for work. Walking to the kitchen, he passed a small glass table lined with pictures. As he did, his robe caught the corner of the table. The jostling caused one of the pictures to fall off—the frame broke, and the glass shattered.
With a sigh of disappointment, he looked down and saw a picture of him at 16 years old staring up at him. It was a picture of his baptism. He remembered that day fondly. He was full of life and anticipation of the future—but not the future he had been pursuing. Back then, he had dreams—not of corner offices or big paychecks—but of serving the Lord with his whole life. Somehow, that had gotten lost.
Somewhere along the way, he had been derailed. The glitter of worldly success had caught his eye, and like Demas, he had taken the bait. He bent to pick up the picture. He wiped off the broken glass and took the photo from the frame to look more closely. As he flipped the image over, he noticed something written in his dad’s hand and dated the day of his baptism. It said,
“No matter what you do or do not do in this life, following Christ is the true measure of success.”
Beneath it, in block letters.
“Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.”— Matthew 6:33.
-D. Eaton
The Fight of Faith 