Work & Unemployment

Gordon

In this life changing story, Gordon talks about his journey through life, the ups and downs of business, of relationships, of family, of ambition and desperation, and of finding God…

My name is Gordon Murray and I am married to Maureen. I became a Christian nearly 11 years ago. As I was then 68 years of age it goes to show that, while you are never too young to become a Christian, at the other end of the scale you can never be too old.

After becoming a Christian I decided to get baptised as soon as possible. This involved giving a testimony. I was sitting at home wondering what to say when I started to think back on my past life. It seemed that it could be likened to a game - a game of Snakes and Ladders. I would work hard to climb the ladder of success, reach the top, only to have it taken away from me and I would slide down a slippery snake and have to start all over again.

When I was young I was very ambitious, worked hard and eventually rose to be Assistant Managing Director of what was, at that time, the foremost company in Europe involved in developing the peaceful uses of Radioactivity. I was married and had two young sons - I felt like I had made it! How wrong I was. Just after the birth of my second son my wife was taken ill, never recovered and eventually died in hospital. At the same time the company was taken over. The Managing Director and I received "the golden handshake" and I was back to square one.

However I was still young and now had two children to provide for, so off I started again. Within a few years I was back at the top of another ladder. I was General manager of a small group of companies and had finally met someone whom I would later marry. Unfortunately my Managing Director and I had very contrasting views on business principles and ethics. One day we had a terrible row, he decided he no longer wanted to work with me and fired me on the spot. Back to square one again!

I started off again, as ambitious as ever. Within a few years I had built myself up to an executive position. I then started working overseas initially in Peru, then Liberia and finally Oman. I was earning lots of tax-free money. I had re-married and now had four children; my oldest two sons had just married. Everything was great - but not for long. My wife was with me in Oman enjoying a good social life. Suddenly she met someone else, the chemistry worked and nineteen years of marriage went out of the window. I completed my Contract and returned to England to arrange for the divorce.

By now I had lost all my ambition. I had finally been working for an Omani Company so I had no job to come back to. I just worked hard enough to earn sufficient money to pay the bills. I wasn't interested in a social life. During one particularly bad period my son, who by now had become my boss, told me to get my act together and he bribed, bullied and cajoled me into taking my first holiday in ten years. This was to be the start of an amazing number of coincidences.

Because of the love I had for Peru and the Peruvian people I decided to go to Spain. I intended to go to northern Spain to a quiet resort called Nerja. The trip was cancelled at the last minute due to lack of bookings so the Rep. advised me to go to Ronda, a little village in the mountains. The day arrived and we set off. It was the worst weather of the holiday and the coach had to climb slowly along narrow mountain roads. There was so much mist that thankfully, you couldn't see over the edge of the road. Eventually we reached Ronda and at last the rain stopped and the sun came out. I started to feel quite cheerful and even started haggling with the local shopkeepers in my long forgotten Spanish. After lunch there was a guided tour which ended up at a former Moorish Mosque, now a Roman Catholic Cathedral, Sta Maria de Major. When I was in Peru I had seen many beautiful Churches but when I entered this one it was truly awesome. I just fell to my knees and started to pray. Now I hadn't prayed for more than thirty years. As I prayed I felt every bit of stress and depression go out of my body and I literally felt as if I was walking on air. This feeling lasted for the rest of my holiday and continued when I returned home.

I was sitting at home wondering what I should do about this when the telephone rang. A friend invited me to go to see the Bobby Ball Show at Stourbridge Town Hall. When I went into the hall I wondered what I had come into. People were singing at the tops of their voices and seemed to be continually raising their arms. What struck me most was how joyful everyone appeared to be. I heard some wonderful testimonies and finally one from Bobby Ball which was brilliant. When he finished he asked for anyone who wanted to know more about the Lord to raise their arms. Almost without realising it my arm shot up. I had two more discussions about the implications of asking the Lord into my life and then I made my commitment. It was to change my whole life.

I did find that becoming a Christian did not mean that you never had any problems. However, knowing the Lord helped you to cope, you were well on the way to solving them. I started to read my bible daily and that really showed me how to live my life. Eventually I started reading Ecclesiastes and some bible notes on Ecclesiastes 4:4-6 sprang out at me and I now read them every day.

Thoughts on Ecclesiastes 4: 4-6 Stewardship, Lifestyle.

Living modestly is better than "chasing the wind" of wealth. Labour should be done to meet God's goals for our lives, not to meet the standards set by our neighbour. Christ said that life does not consist of things, no matter how abundant. Real living is in giving and serving, not in getting and indulging. Inner peace and tranquility, not personal wealth and prestige mark true success. There I had been striving all my life to achieve success in the secular world, only to have it taken away from me, when the answer was so simple. All it took was one simple 3 - letter word: "yes". I said "yes" to the Lord and he came into my heart and I achieved the inner peace and tranquility that mark true success.

But the Lord still had not quite finished with me. I had been on my own for more than ten years with just a faithful Red Setter dog for company. I started reading the follow-on note in Ecclesiastes.

Thoughts on Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12 Humanity, Relationships.

We are usually better off when we have a vital relationship with someone else. This supplies the pooling of strength resources and wisdom.

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