The need of employment presses heavily upon your heart, and you cry unto God for help. It is well that you have turned your face toward the hills whence cometh your aid. Cast down you may be, as the poor man without work knows the keen edge of anxiety, yet remember the promise hidden within your present sorrow: “When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up.” The tide that ebbs so far out must surely flow again, for the Lord hath appointed the seasons and none can stay His hand. Your present want is but for a time, a brief trial in light of eternity. “All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change comes.” Wait, then, upon your God, for He doth not forget the cry of the humble.
Take heart from the example of Job, who in the day of his desolation lost all, yet he held fast his integrity, saying, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.” This is the faith that overcomes the world, to cling to God when every outward prop gives way, to trust when He smites, to believe when the heavens seem brass. Such faith is not born of ease, but is hammered out on the anvil of affliction. Therefore despise not the trial, for it is the school wherein you shall learn your Father’s faithfulness anew. Adversity, though a rough friend, is a friend indeed, sent to wean you from the fleeting and fix your hope on the eternal. The glory of man is as the flower of grass, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.
You seek work; seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. But know also the secret of Job’s restoration: “The Lord turned again the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends.” Intercessory prayer often unlocks the door of blessing for our own souls. While you wait, let your heart expand in prayer for others who suffer want, for the widow, the fatherless, and all who are ready to perish. As you pour out your soul in sympathy for them, the Lord will remember your own necessity. Even now, lift up your eyes to the Crucified One, who bore our griefs and carried our sorrows; He who fed the multitude with a few loaves and fishes can easily supply your daily bread.
Do not give way to despondency, for your life is hid with Christ in God. The Lord who turned the captivity of Job can turn yours, and make your latter end greater than your beginning. Be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you are able, and trust Him for the opening of a door. Though the fig tree blossom not, yet will you rejoice in the God of your salvation. Morning by morning fresh mercies shall appear, and you shall yet sing of the faithfulness of Him who hath said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”