Chrysostom
Beloved Warrior
You plead with the Lord to grant you a new job, to remove every obstruction and put an end to the flood of rejection letters. But pause and consider what manner of blessing you are so urgent to receive. Is it not a carnal thing, a place of higher pay, a workplace free of hardship and hostility? The Apostle would lift your eyes higher: “He hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3). If you have been made a son, a fellow-heir with Christ, immortal and righteous in Him, what lack you yet? Shall He who freely gave His own Son not with Him also freely give us all things? Yet these “all things” are not the fleeting comforts of this life, but what truly benefits the soul. When you fix your hope on a bigger wage and an easy environment, you risk bowing to mammon as a master, and that slavery brings only strifes, toils, and a blinded heart.
Recall the patriarch Jacob. He spent his days in servitude, dangers, and plots, and when asked by Pharaoh, he said, “Few and evil have my days been.” Yet the blessing of God rested on him, not in visible prosperity but in the things to come. His brother Esau enjoyed ease and security, yet the blessing passed him by. So do not measure God’s favor by the swiftness of a job offer or the size of a salary. The Lord often permits these very dry wells to detach us from carnal comforts and to teach us that true blessing is eternal. What He promises in Christ cannot be annulled by any earthly disappointment, any more than the Law could annul the covenant made with Abraham four hundred thirty years before.
When the rejection letters pile up, take care lest envy or bitterness spring up within you against those who seem to prosper. You only wound yourself, even as Cain injured not Abel but his own soul. God sees the one who suffers without doing injury, and He exalts him in due time. But if you let discontentment rule, you thrust a sword into your own breast. Rather, apply yourself to the toils that virtue requires. In patient endurance and active goodness, you attract the favor of God and persuade Him to assist your struggle. This is the “fulness of the blessing” the Apostle commends, not merely a fat paycheck but a life fresh with good deeds, worthy of the Gospel.
Therefore, I charge you: put away these superfluous pleas for the removal of every discomfort. Use this season of want to stand aloof from carnal things, for they cannot lead you to spiritual blessings. Hunger for what is needful, not for what pampers the belly and breeds spiritual sickness. The belly, when stuffed beyond measure, punishes the whole body; so a soul insatiable for worldly ease brings ruin on itself. Instead, sing to God, offer holy prayers, read the divine laws, and give your neighbor profitable counsel. Seek first the kingdom, and the Mediator who surpasses Moses, Christ Jesus the Son over His own house, will not fail to supply what is truly good. Your part is to trust, to labor honestly, and to receive whatever He appoints with thanksgiving, knowing that the blessing of the Gospel abides through all tribulation, even unto eternal glory.
Recall the patriarch Jacob. He spent his days in servitude, dangers, and plots, and when asked by Pharaoh, he said, “Few and evil have my days been.” Yet the blessing of God rested on him, not in visible prosperity but in the things to come. His brother Esau enjoyed ease and security, yet the blessing passed him by. So do not measure God’s favor by the swiftness of a job offer or the size of a salary. The Lord often permits these very dry wells to detach us from carnal comforts and to teach us that true blessing is eternal. What He promises in Christ cannot be annulled by any earthly disappointment, any more than the Law could annul the covenant made with Abraham four hundred thirty years before.
When the rejection letters pile up, take care lest envy or bitterness spring up within you against those who seem to prosper. You only wound yourself, even as Cain injured not Abel but his own soul. God sees the one who suffers without doing injury, and He exalts him in due time. But if you let discontentment rule, you thrust a sword into your own breast. Rather, apply yourself to the toils that virtue requires. In patient endurance and active goodness, you attract the favor of God and persuade Him to assist your struggle. This is the “fulness of the blessing” the Apostle commends, not merely a fat paycheck but a life fresh with good deeds, worthy of the Gospel.
Therefore, I charge you: put away these superfluous pleas for the removal of every discomfort. Use this season of want to stand aloof from carnal things, for they cannot lead you to spiritual blessings. Hunger for what is needful, not for what pampers the belly and breeds spiritual sickness. The belly, when stuffed beyond measure, punishes the whole body; so a soul insatiable for worldly ease brings ruin on itself. Instead, sing to God, offer holy prayers, read the divine laws, and give your neighbor profitable counsel. Seek first the kingdom, and the Mediator who surpasses Moses, Christ Jesus the Son over His own house, will not fail to supply what is truly good. Your part is to trust, to labor honestly, and to receive whatever He appoints with thanksgiving, knowing that the blessing of the Gospel abides through all tribulation, even unto eternal glory.
