Our nation is facing a real challenge right now, and it is a real gut-check for Christians. Will we trust in Christ, suffer faithfully, show compassion, and bear witness? Or will we get swept away by the panic that seems to be unfolding in some places?

I want to be clear about what I mean. I am not winding up to rebuke those who are taking seriously the novel coronavirus and who are being vigilant to do all they can to stop the spread and to encourage others to do the same.

This is not a drill. It’s real. We all need to be vigilant. And we need to take our responsibilities seriously to love our neighbors well by taking practical measures to slow the spread of the disease. So this is not a rebuke of vigilance.

But it is a challenge to any believer tempted to being swept away by panic. And let me explain why this is so important.

This what I mean by panic:

A sudden overwhelming fear, with or without cause, that produces hysterical or irrational behavior, and that often spreads quickly through a group of persons or animals (source).

The very definition of panic is sudden inordinate fear that produces behavior that reflects such fear.

Fear is a very real human response to uncertainty, but it is nevertheless the opposite of faith.

The only kind of fear that can coexist with faith is the fear of God. But the fear of man, the fear of the future, the fear of calamities, and yes even the fear of pandemics can only exist where the fear of God is absent.

So if we want to have courage and bear faithful witness to Christ in the days ahead, we need to strengthen one another’s hands to trust in Christ and his word. And we need to turn from panic and from the fear that wants to swallow us up.

For God did not give us a Spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control. -2 Timothy 1:7

Fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. -Isaiah 41:10

Perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. -1 John 4:18

Anxiety is a vice. It drives out love, joy, peace, patience, and all the other fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:21). That is why it is our duty to oppose fear with all our might when it comes upon us. How do we oppose it? What can be done?

I want to suggest one really practical thing:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. -Philippians 4:6

The prohibition “do not be anxious” is a prohibition on fear. But the prohibition is immediately followed by the means that God intends for us to use to fight fear: “let your requests be made known to God.” In short, pray. Cry out to God in humble dependence.

Are you terrified about the future? Make your request known. Ask God to care for your future. Are you terrified about pandemics? Ask him to take it away and to have mercy on us until he does. Are you scared of dying? Ask God to save you. Make your request known.

The very act of crying out to God is an act of faith. The weaker you are, the louder you cry. And the louder you cry, the more your dependence on him comes through. It’s not about your strength but his.

And when you have done this, then will the next part come true:

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. -Philippians 4:7

This is how you connect to God in the midst of trial, and this is where he meets you. At the point of your greatest desperation and need:

We had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead. -2 Cor. 1:9

I am praying for you, brothers and sisters. Please pray for me. And let’s pray for our neighbors and for opportunities to show glad-hearted faith and hope and love in the midst of the panic around us.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, & to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion & authority, before all time & now and forever. -Jude 24-25

Talking about pay is hard, and a lot of the time it feels like it boils down to “hello I would like more money please?”. But it’s totally possible to have a conversation about compensation without asking for more money at all!

When trying to understand (and let’s be honest – increase!) my pay, I’ve found it really useful to first understand the processes around compensation at the company I work for. Here are some questions you can ask. Your manager can probably answer many of these, but your colleagues might know too!

1. Who makes decisions about raises? (is it at the discretion of the manager? Does the manager have a fixed budget they can give out? Is there a formula based on past performance evaluations?)
2. When do we adjust salaries? (on the employee’s work anniversary? Right after a performance review?)
3. Do we do market adjustments to give people raises if the industry salary for this job increases? What’s the process for that?
4. Is there a salary range for my level? What is it approximately? (Also same question for total compensation and not just salary)
5. Does the company actually stick to its salary ranges or does it often make exceptions? What’s the process for getting paid higher than the range? Who can decide to make an exception?
6. Which other companies are we trying to be competitive with when we make job offers?
7. How is compensation split between salary/equity/bonus? (at higher levels, will my pay be mostly equity? what do we aim for with bonuses?)
8. Is it possible to get more vacation? (at this company, do you get more vacation after X years?)
9. When are equity refreshes given? (do we give refreshes yearly? Only when someone’s initial stock grant is about to expire?)
10. Who makes decisions about equity refreshes and how? (are they based on level? Performance? Who decides?)
11. When do my stock options expire? (this one you should definitely have been told, but if your company has stock options set up like “they expire 3 months after you leave”, it’s possible for them to change their policy)
12. Is on-call time compensated? How?
13. How do bonuses work exactly? (is it tied to company performance? Individual performance? Level? All of the above? Are bonuses targeted to be a percentage of salary?)
14. Is there a peer bonus system? (can people recommend their coworkers for cash bonuses?)
15. Is there a learning budget? (for conferences / books / training?)
16. Is it possible to take unpaid time off?

If you’re negotiating a job offer it can also be useful to ask about signing/relocation bonus and details about the stock options.

This is probably too many questions to ask all at once, and your manager may not even know the answers to all of these questions themselves. That’s okay! I definitely didn’t know the answers to all of these at my last job, but knowing even some of these answers is really helpful.

company policies can vary a lot

The reason this blog post is “questions to ask” and not “how compensation works” is that different companies have VERY different compensation policies. At some companies you can ask for a raise and just get it if you make a good case, and at other companies there are very strict rules about the salary bands for each level. And everything in between, and then apply that to every axis of compensation (salary, bonuses, equity, paid vacation, benefits). Regardless of what the “best” compensation policies are, it’s good to know what situation you’re in exactly.

And be careful of assuming you know the answers already!

why this is useful

If you know when and how decisions about compensation are made, it’s easier to figure out where to apply pressure, either individually (by making a case for yourself) or through collective action (by making specific demands as a group for something to be changed).