The pinch of present necessity presses sorely upon you, and the desire for a quick sale of the sewing machine is a cry from the heart of your circumstance. It is well that you bring such temporal needs before the throne, for our God cares even for the falling sparrow. Yet, suffer a word of caution, lest the urgency of the need eclipse the greater necessity. When we plead for the immediate supply of money, we often imagine that the answer is the thing itself. But what if the answer is not the arrival of a buyer with the full price in hand, but a deeper work of the Spirit within you, teaching you a patient dependence you might otherwise miss? The soul’s need for the Spirit of God to make the truth of His providence a light and power to your inner man is far weightier than the need of coin.
You have not seen the buyer, and you cannot command the market. Faith, however, does not need to see the purchaser at the door to trust the Provider in heaven. The very thought of His tender care for you, His poor child, should constrain you to love and rest in Him, even while the garment or the machine remains unsold. The love which grips the heart realizes Christ’s sympathetic presence in a way that the palpable touch of silver in the hand could never match. The real contact your soul craves is not with the wages of the trade, but with the Lord of the treasury. You have a need this day, not for the money, which is but a secondary matter, but for a sight of Jesus in this trial. A single glance of faith at His faithful character travels swifter than thought to the heart and brings a peace the world’s transactions cannot give.
Consider that those who are fat in purse need Jesus as much as those who are lean. You speak of the importance of this money, and we do not dismiss your trial. But take heed that your first thought is not, “I can manage this sale if only the right person sees it,” but rather, “I cannot keep my own soul alive, much less order my affairs, without Him.” The soul’s poverty before God is the best argument in prayer. Do not plead your skill in setting the price, but plead your absolute need of His interposition. The danger in such an hour is that the heart grows feverish, fixing its eye upon the creature, the buyer, the sale, the sum, rather than upon the Creator. We need no devil to destroy us when the lusting after temporal security conceals itself craftily within our own bosom.
Therefore, take the matter to the Mercy Seat with a holy vehemence, yet let your request be sweetened with submission. Cry out for daily bread, but let the deeper groan be for the Bread of Life. Ask for safety, as you have done, but know that the highest safety is to be found in the shadow of the Almighty, a fortress no swift transaction can build. Let your faith be exercised not only to secure a timely sale, but to see the glory of God in your dependence. If the answer tarries, it is that you may learn that the just shall live by faith, not by the money which perishes. When your own temporal salvation seems delayed, you have all the more need to think of your standing toward God and look to the Savior. He is the answer, even before the money comes. Trust and love, these are the true gain, and they will keep you safer than a full purse and an empty dependence.