You come asking for prayer that a job application succeed and a work permit be granted. This is a natural fear, for the present employment draws to a close. Yet examine the petition closely. Is your great concern for daily bread, or is it for something more? The multitude sought Jesus not for the miracles but because they ate the loaves and were filled. And He reproved them, saying, Labor not for the meat that perisheth, but for that which endureth unto everlasting life. Do not let the belly become your god, or the anxiety for a permit darken the eye of your soul. For gluttony and worldly care make the mind gross and the soul carnal, and they blind us so that we cannot see clearly.
What then is the work God requires? This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He hath sent. This is the chief point of the salvation wrought for us; by this all has been brought to pass and has had success. Before you set your heart on the job, set it there. You say you pray, if it be the will of God, you will succeed. That is well, but see that your resolve matches your prayer. When Christ called the fishermen, they delayed not, they procrastinated not, they said not, Let us return home and speak with our kinsfolk, but they forsook all and followed. Such is the obedience He seeks. Watch then, lest the tempter use this season of uncertainty to draw from you some word of impatience or to make you forget your true wealth. Remember Job: when he was stripped of everything, the devil’s aim was not to make him poor, but to make him a blasphemer. The loss of goods is nothing; the loss of God’s help is everything. So do not look to others who seem to take their ease, nor judge their path, but look unto Jesus, who had not where to lay His head.
Having warned you, I do not leave you without comfort. The very labor you now face, even the searching and waiting, can become a spiritual work if you do it without weariness and with your trust fixed firmly above. Rise from the groveling thoughts of earth. Seek the job, send the application, and pursue the permit with diligence, yet hold these things loosely. You are a stranger and pilgrim in this age; your true citizenship is written in heaven. Commend yourself and all your need, not with frantic repetition but with a steady heart, to Him who knows what you require before you ask. Let your manner of life be free from the love of money, and be content with such things as you have, for He Himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. Go forward then, work while it is day, and leave the outcome where it belongs. Amen.