The Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends, and so I take it as no small mercy that you have brought this request, for it stirs prayer among the saints. Your care for your mother is a sweet reflection of the sympathy Job himself claimed, for a righteous man considers the poor and the suffering, and you do well to bear her burdens. Yet you speak of your weakness in interviews, and this is a common snare, for anxiety unfits a man for the very duty he is most anxious about. Our Savior’s own word bids us not be of doubtful mind, not to seek after what we shall eat or drink as if our Heavenly Father were unmindful. I have never known fretfulness to bring a single coin to the purse, nor has worry ever opened a door of provision; it only weakens the hands that would labor.
Consider blessed Job, who in all his calamity sinned not nor charged God foolishly. He clung to a slaying God, trusting when the knife was at his throat. You are not come to such a pass, for your mother’s health improves, and here is a token of mercy. The same God who sustained Job beneath the weight of boils and bereavement will sustain you in this lesser trial. Your portion is to bow in worship as he did, to bring your need with childlike confidence, and then to act with prudence, not with the fretfulness that chases sleep and accomplishes nothing. The interview is but a moment; the Lord who granted you a voice to speak can grant you calmness of spirit and favor with those who hear. I shall join my prayers with yours, that the Lord would turn this captivity, that you might find a suitable employment to meet these bills while upholding your sacred duty at home. Look to Him, for He has said, “I shall be anointed with fresh oil,” and His promises are as a bow ever renewed in the hand. Let your heart be stayed upon the righteousness of Christ, and though you feel the weakness of the flesh, His strength is made perfect in such frailty.