Diving Into A Sea of Books–You’re Not Alone–Daily Encouragement For Those Looking For A New Job

As an avid reader, I get excited about the great number of books out there to read, either for entertainment, education, inspiration or with some books, all three. The quantity available in print, audio, and e-books reminds me of the vast amount of life in the oceans, so I call these book reviews “Diving Into A Sea of Books”. As with diving into an ocean looking for interesting objects, diving into books means you come across mixed results: over here, a book you don’t bother to finish, over there, a “treasure”–one that you like so much you can’t wait to reread it, and over there, a book you read and think, “Meh”.

You’re Not Alone, subtitled, Daily Encouragement For Those Looking For A New Job, by Richard Malone, is a helpful, useful book of meditations for those in the uncertain world of job changes. The book came about during the author’s own period of  unemployment when he looked for a devotional book and couldn’t find any.

Each day begins with Scripture, Mr. Malone’s writing, and then a short prayer. Mr. Malone points out that many of the people in the Bible dealt with a variety of situations that could bring on the powerful emotions a job loss carries with it–anger, fear, the desire for revenge, loneliness, and others. The author shows that God helped all those people, and He is more than willing to help people who’ve lost their jobs, for whatever reason.

At the back of the book Mr. Malone lists many books on the subject of work and handling emotions related to job loss.

Comments: This is the only book I’ve found so far which links unemployment and Scripture, and shows the help God offers through faith. While compassionate in tone to the job hunter, Mr. Malone also is realistic about factors that come into play in employment. He emphasizes that overall, no matter what, God is still here, and can be trusted. Given that a person cannot be sure of job “security”, this book is a valuable resource. To me, it’s a “treasure”. I want to start a job-search/support group in the future; this is one of the books I plan to use in the group.

©P. Booher