More From Linawati Santoso

In January 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I lost my job. When I heard the news about my job, my first response was stress. Overwhelmed with worry, I cried to my sister: “It’s bad, very bad.” I did not know what would I do about our daily needs. How would I pay bills and buy food?

As I have written in my devotion, I then remembered Selah, a word often found in the Psalms. Although we do not know for certain the meaning of Selah, it might mean pause, take a breath, or take heart in the words that were just sung. Many Psalms were written by David, king of Israel. He wrote songs as he tasted and saw God’s goodness, and he also wrote songs when he was in distress. David wrote Psalm 3 while he fled from his son Absalom. He did not write it to groan to God but rather to strengthen his faith. Psalm 3 also contains Selah. As I wrote in my devotion, I like to imagine that after saying Selah, David stopped singing for a while. I wonder what he might have done in that time.

After Selah appeared in Psalm 3, David resumed praising God. I was sure my situation would be same. As I meditated on Psalm 3, my stress was immediately gone. I looked at my problem in new way. Losing my job was an opportunity for Selah. It was a time for me to pause and stop all the daily busyness for a while. In the time I would have worked, instead I prayed, praised, and worshiped God. I also found strength in Philippians 4:6, which says: “Do not anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (NIV). So I prayed, and I requested that God would open a door for a new job or that I might recover my job. Nyonita, a leader in my Christian fellowship and a sister in Christ, also prayed for me. In February 2022, I received a message that I was able to return to my work. Praise God, I was able to recover my job!