I GUARANTEE IT!

George Zimmer recently lost his job. A lot of people lose their jobs. But Zimmer was the founder and chairman of the famed suit company, Men's Wearhouse.  He built the company from nothing, really, even using a cigar box as his cash register in the earliest days. Zimmer was more than the business mind behind the scenes. He was the literal face of the company, personally doing the print and television ads for decades.

His departure was, for the most part, unceremonious. Two interesting reasons surfaced for why he's now gone. First, while now a significantly minor stockholder in Men's Wearhouse, he wanted to remain a powerful voice of influence in company matters. But the more troubling explanation for his ouster was that he had become irrelevant to a younger market. 

Too old ...  Or old fashioned.

Regardless, my heart goes out to the man; And to anyone who has worked hard at a job only to find themselves unwanted.  Irrelevant. 

Have you ever been downsized or fired? Become unwanted? Notice how few friends come around.  It's happened to me. How refreshing to the soul to have one or two former coworkers call or write a note telling you or me that we are not irrelevant. That we made a difference.

In the pain of the moments of rejection or indifference, we should note that no one understands better than Jesus. The prophet Isaiah wrote this about the coming King …

He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

He knows our pain. We can turn to Him. He wants to help.

How about you?  If you follow Jesus, consider sending a note of encouragement to someone who now feels irrelevant. Your words may lift them out of the mire of pain to their next great achievement. And you'll feel pretty good, too.

In fact, I guarantee it.

That's the way WE work.  I'm Mark Elfstrand.