“Can I see you in my office?” On any other day, you’d welcome the opportunity for a pop-up one-on-one with your boss. But today is layoff day, and you know that invitation means you’ll be walking into that room for the last time. With that one question, your whole world just turned upside down.

Over the past week, I heard from so many of my former colleagues who had poured their heart into their company for years or even decades, only to be told that their services were no longer required. It’s disorienting. It’s frightening. And it can leave you wondering if everything you’ve done and everything you’ve worked to become ever even had any value.

What am I supposed to feel?

First of all, let’s just start by acknowledging that shock is normal, and everyone processes shocking news in their own way. Initially, you might feel sad. You might feel angry. You might even feel relieved. Or you might feel nothing at all. There is no “right” way to feel when you receive this kind of news.

Once the gravity of the situation and all of its ramifications start to set in, you will likely have more emotions. Fear. Anxiety. Shame. Doubt. Grief. Hopelessness. More than just a loss of occupation and income, a layoff can feel like a referendum on your value, a gut punch to your sense of worth in this world. Let me acknowledge that those feelings are real and that your emotions are valid.

Did you know that even Jesus felt those very same emotions? He wept with grief over the death of his friend Lazarus. He overturned furniture in anger at the money changers in the temple. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He had so much anxiety that He sweat drops of blood, and His sorrow was so heavy that He wanted to die. On the cross, He felt abandoned by God. Were these emotions wrong, or were they very real expressions of who we are all created in God’s image to be? Go ahead, feel the emotions. Share them with God like Jesus did. God can take it, and He wants to be right there with you as you go through this.

What am I supposed to do?

When a layoff happens, your first instinct might be to start looking for another job immediately: update your résumé and your LinkedIn profile, reach out to your network, and start submitting those applications. However, if you do that right away, you could be throwing away a huge opportunity. Let me illustrate what I mean.

You know those posts you see on social media where someone who just got out of a relationship yesterday has a brand new “love of their life” today? What comes to mind when you see that? I bet it’s something like this: “Wow, that was quick! Rebound relationship alert! Grab some popcorn and let’s see how long that lasts! It’s too bad that person didn’t take a little time on their own to process what happened and work on themselves first before jumping right into something else.” How is it that we see this so easily with other people’s personal relationships, but we miss it so badly in our own careers?

A layoff may be one of the most valuable opportunities that you’ll ever receive in your career if you steward it well. Don’t believe me? Consider these gifts:

Layoffs Are a Financial Gift

Layoffs tend to come with a check. A pretty big one. One that’s big enough to buy you weeks or months of time to regroup. Layoffs also nearly always come with the ability to file for unemployment benefits. And let me disavow you right now of the notion that unemployment benefits are some kind of a handout. Unemployment benefits are insurance, and you’ve been paying unemployment insurance premiums with every single paycheck during the entire time that you’ve worked for that company. You now have a claim on that insurance policy, and that money belongs to you. Don’t leave it on the table.

Layoffs Are a Gift of Rest

You’ve likely been running nonstop from the day you took that job until the day you walked out that door. Meetings to attend. Presentations to prepare. People to call. Deals to close. An avalanche of email. Reports due. Required training to complete. Fires to put out. The list goes on and on and on, and the pile never seems to get any shorter. That all stopped.

My friend, take a breath! Literally go outside and breathe the air. Walk around your neighborhood. Look at the sky, smell the plants, feel the sun on your skin. When God gave Moses His commandments, He only gave him ten of them, and one of those ten was to rest. That shows you how important rest must be, and it also shows you that God literally had to command us to take it in order to get us to actually do that. Take some now.

Layoffs Are a Gift of a Season.

Layoffs are also a gift of a season, and each season has its purpose. It can be so tempting to race from the season that you just came out of to the season that will follow this one that you neglect to steward the season that you’re in. What do you need to pick up during this season to better prepare you for what’s next? What might you need to lay down that is no longer serving you? What might someone else need from you during this season? Think about the skills, habits, and relationships that you’ve been meaning to work on more intentionally. Now is the season to do that! For a deeper dive into assignments and seasons, check out my blog post, Why Can’t I Get Unstuck.

Layoffs Are a Gift of Information

There’s a lot you can learn from a layoff if you’re willing to take a good look under the hood. First, you can learn from the experience you just had. What did you like about your work, your company, and your industry? What drove you nuts? What couldn’t you stomach? Write those things down.

Next, you can learn from what you neglected due to work obligations. What relationships in your life suffered? What responsibilities were left undone? What dreams were sidelined? Write those things down too.

Next, you can learn from who you became in that role. Where did you grow? Where did you stagnate? Where did you behave like someone you don’t want to be? Write those down as well.

You might assume that the next step is to organize all of this in some way, maybe assign values and prioritize the list, or maybe line it up with your personality type or strengths or some other assessment that you’ve taken. At some point, there may be value in doing those things, but for now, just treasure your list. Tape it to your bathroom mirror, fold it up and stick it in your pocket, or tuck it into your Bible. Whatever you do with it, have it someplace where you can pull it out easily and go over it with God, just you and Him, one on one. Do that a lot. Have unstructured conversations. See what else He shows you to put on the list. See what He highlights for you. Give yourself permission to just be messy for a little bit and see what God reveals to you. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what rises to the surface.

Layoffs Are a Gift of Control

“What? You are crazy! Being laid off is the most out-of-control thing that has ever happened to my career!” Perhaps. But if that’s true, how much were you really in control to begin with? You are now in the position where you get to have a lot of say in what happens next. You don’t have to keep going in the same direction. You may stay in the same industry or the same function, or you may decide that this is as good a time as any to try something new. You may stay with traditional employment, or you may decide that this is the time to start that business you’ve always dreamed of. You may decide to get some education that you’ve been wishing you had, or you may realize that you can actually retire or semi-retire and pursue an activity or volunteer in a role where earning your previous level of income isn’t as critical.

A word of caution about control: With this control comes responsibility to steward it well. It can be easy to go from one kind of out-of-control to a different kind of out-of-control with your newfound freedom. Take your time. Give your next move some thought. Run your idea by one or more trusted mentors or friends. Do your due diligence. Don’t be like that person on social media who jumped right into a rebound situation!

You Are Going to Be Okay

I know this is a tough time. It hurts. Your confidence took a hit. It may take some time to recover. That’s okay. Take this time to get closer to God. Take your sadness and your anger and your ideas and your dreams to Him. Yell and scream and stomp your feet. Laugh and cry and hope and dream. Get a little irreverent. God can handle it. Then get up. Go outside. Bask in all of the amazing gifts that you never had time to appreciate in the craziness of the last season, make the most of this season, and move forward into your next season being better for having stewarded the journey.

If you’d like help walking through the emotions of a layoff and mapping out your next steps, I encourage you to check out my coaching page or connect with me directly. I’d love to walk with you!