The heart is so prone to set itself upon the meat that perishes, to labor and to strain after that which moth and rust corrupt. You ask for the TA-ship, you ask for the grant money, and these are not wicked things in themselves. Yet I would have you first stand at the foot of the Cross and ask whether you have truly called upon the name of the Lord for that which endures unto everlasting life. The grand promise, "Whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved," is meant for you, is meant for your children, is meant for all to whom the message comes. Has that matter been settled? For if you have no money, no merit, no righteousness of your own, you are the very man for Christ's money, the very soul for whom the wine and milk of the Gospel are freely poured out. Come, buy, and eat, for it is all without money and without price. And if He has granted you this spiritual good, should you then doubt His care for temporals? He who gave His Son for you, will He not with Him also freely give you all things? If He gives you spirituals, do not suffer Him to lack for temporals in your petitions, but bring them in their proper place, behind the one great cry, "God be merciful to me a sinner."
Yet I know the weight of Providence presses heavily when you look at the empty vessel and the weary waiting. Let me speak plainly: God often permits His children to come to an end of their own scheming, to have no stock to start with, that they may learn the meaning of "He that has no money, come." You are brought low that you may look up. While the captain can devise any scheme for scudding before the wind, he will not give up the ship; so the Lord may drive you away from every carnal prop until you cry out, "Now is the appointed time, now I must have salvation and help from Him alone or I perish." That is a good place to be, though it bites the flesh. It is a sweet bitterness that yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness. Cast your burden on the Lord; He has drawn you once and He will draw you again. Even in this matter of daily provision, He has said, "I will bring again that which was driven away." Trust Him for the thing you seek, for the bread that is spent in your vessels, and know that prayer will keep and be fragrant many a year. The Lord grant it to you according to His will, and in waiting may you find Him to be your exceeding great reward, for Jesus' sake.