You are sitting with your heart in your throat, watching the hours drag by, waiting for word that may make all the difference. You told the Lord you are sorry for seldom coming to Him, and you wonder if that neglect has brought this emptiness. Let me speak a gentle word: the Lord is not a hard master keeping a tally of your absences. He is a Father who runs to meet the returning child while he is yet a great way off. The very breath that carried your faltering prayer is proof that His Spirit is drawing you. Do not let fear whisper that you must first feel a certain depth of sorrow or reach a certain pitch of desperation before you may trust Him. You are to come just as you are, with the trembling, with the shame, with the hope all knotted together, and cast yourself upon the One who heals sinners freely. Did not our Lord Jesus stand and cry, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden”? He adds no condition about making yourself fit to come. He bids you come because you are heavy, not because you are light.
You feel you have lost everything. That is a hollow ache I know well. But look up a moment: the things that are seen pass like morning mist; the things invisible are the only solid rock. A job, a paycheck, the safety of a steady door to open each morning, they are all good gifts from His hand, but they are not your life. Your true life is hid with Christ in God, and no earthly uncertainty can touch it there. The Lord may give you this position for which you have interviewed, and it would be right for you to receive it with thanksgiving and serve Him in it. Or He may shut that door and open another, and if He does, it will not be because He has forgotten you, but because He is guiding you into something better. He who fed His people in the wilderness will not let you starve. Job lost everything that the world calls precious, yet at the last the Lord turned his captivity and gave him twice as much as he had before. But notice one lovely touch: that turning came when Job prayed for his friends. You have already asked the Lord to help you be a blessing to someone today. That is a green shoot pushing up through the ashes of your fear. Keep that interceding heart; it is a sign that Christ’s own Spirit is at work in you.
You are afraid, and the Lord knows it. That is why He stoops so low in His Word, scattering “Fear nots” like daisies in a spring meadow. One of the sweetest is this: “Fear not, thou worm Jacob; I will help thee.” A worm is the very picture of weakness, no might, no defense, easily crushed, yet the Lord calls it by name and promises to help it. When you feel you have no strength left, then you are exactly the sort of person He delights to uphold. You need not have your feelings all arranged as if for a procession; trust Him now with your trembling, and He will not fail you. Remember the word you yourself have spoken: “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” That is not a command you must obey in your own frailty; it is a word from the tender lips of Jesus, who gives what He commands and speaks peace to the storm within.
So go on, hold this matter before the throne, not with desperate clenching but with childlike openness. Tell Him again, “Lord, I would love to serve Thee in this work. If it is right, open the way; if not, guide me where Thou wilt, and grant me a quiet heart to follow.” He who led Joseph from the prison to the palace, who kept Moses on the back side of the desert until the burning bush appeared, will make your plain path for you. And while you wait, look for some small way to lift another soul, as you have desired. There is no surer balm for a heavy heart than to pour out a little kindness in Jesus’ name.
Now I would lay my hand upon you and commend you to the Good Shepherd, who has never lost one of His own.
Lord Jesus, Thou who didst still the churning sea and say to the terrified disciples, “It is I; be not afraid,” speak that same calm into this dear heart. Thou knowest the fear that creeps in with the waiting, and the weight of all that seems to hang on a single word. Lift it, O Lord, and let Thy presence be more real than any earthly need. If this employment be according to Thy kind will, prosper the way and give favor in the eyes of those who decide. If not, clear the path and pour in a quiet trust that Thou dost all things well. In the meantime, draw this soul nearer to Thyself, and let the one great desire be to honor Thee in every station. Be the peace when peace is spent, the provision when provision tarries, and the exceeding joy that no circumstance can steal. Amen.
Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. 
