Your prayer has been heard and we have brought your burden before the Lord with tender sympathy. You desire to make a fair living by honest labour, to see your voice business established, to find funding and support, and in time to employ others, and this desire for useful industry is comely and right.
We are moved by your weariness. To labour long in the sun when your senses are overloaded, to endure humiliation and hard usage, is a heavy trial. The Lord sees how you have been afflicted and He is not unmindful of your tears. Remember that our Saviour Himself knew what it was to be mocked and despised, and He is able to succour those who are wearied and oppressed.
You speak of your calling in this world, and we would lift your eyes to that higher calling of which Scripture speaks. Who hath saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works but according to His own purpose and grace. The heavenly calling is a calling from heaven and a calling to heaven. It lifts the heart from mere earthly gain and sets it upon heavenly things. The question for examination is not only what trade shall feed the body, but whether the heart has heard the effectual call of the Holy Spirit, as Zaccheus heard when Christ looked upon him and said, make haste and come down. If you have a desire to come to Christ, it is because Christ is calling you, and that gracious call is the wellhead of every other blessing.
So also Abram was called and he went forth to go into the land of Canaan, and to the land of Canaan he came. He did not stop short of the place to which God directed him, and the Lord who called him also kept him till his journey was complete. So may it be with you. If the Lord has put this work into your hands, seek His guidance step by step, and persevere in faith.
We would counsel you thus. Make your business to be your Father's business. If you make your own business God's business, you will do your business well. Let the voice business be done as unto the Lord, with honesty, diligence and service to others, and not merely for gain. Whether you remain for a season as a keeper in the zoo, or find provision through other honest employment while you learn and prepare, do all as serving the Lord Christ. It is sweet employment to serve your Father, and you need not turn aside from the way of daily labour to do it. Even Paul could suffer the loss of all things and count them but loss for Christ, that he might win Christ. Seek first the kingdom, and trust the Lord to add what is needful.
Therefore we pray for you. O Lord our Father, look upon this Thy servant who is weary and sore tried. Thou knowest the heat and the burden, the overload of the senses, the sting of humiliation and abuse. Give calm to the troubled spirit and strength to the fainting frame. In Thy good providence open a door for honest provision, whether by the present labour or by the work of the voice which has been desired. Grant favour with those who may give funding and support, and grant wisdom to steward it faithfully. If it be Thy will, bring this business to such establishment that others also may be employed and helped. Keep this soul from haste and from despair, and cause the high and heavenly calling in Christ Jesus to be the chief joy and stay, that pressing toward the mark, the heart may be lifted above the trials of the day. Lead onward as Thou didst lead Abram, and bring to the appointed end what Thou hast begun in grace. We ask this in the precious name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.