It seems nowadays that it is getting harder and harder to stand out in the job market. Can our faith contribute to this or are we on our own? When God says in His word that He would never leave us nor forsake us, did the package include job competency?

When we think of job competency, the first thing we think of is a skill or talent. While skill and talent may help, it's not enough to stand out in the workplace. The most important factor to getting a job and keeping it is your character. A skill or a resume may get you a job, but unless you have the right attitude and character, you won't be staying long.

Character is best defined as the substance of your heart that affects your words and actions. Matthew 12:34b tells us this: "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (ESV). That is character.

You may be the most skilful and talented person there is, but without the right character, you'll never have the heart to improve or the humility to work well with others. I'm reminded of the story of Coach Cleveland Stroud of the Bulldogs, who brought his higshchool basketball team to an upset victory in the state championships.

The coach later found out that he had an ineligible team player who only played 45 seconds in the final game and did not make an impact whatsoever. The coach confessed the ineligibility to the board and they were stripped of the title. He then later told his players this: "...People forget the scores of basketball games; they don't ever forget what you're made of."

Character matters and the Bible gives us a clearcut method on how God develops our character. Romans 5:3–4 says, "Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope" (ESV).

When God stretches us by allowing challenges to come our way, it's His way of building character in us so that we become more competent and so that we stand out. We're not going to stand out with skill alone. We need the character of Christ embedded into us, and God builds that character in us by breaking us. It's going to hurt, but we can be assured that God will be our strength if we allow His breaking to happen.

2 Corinthians 12:9 tells us, "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (ESV).