This Monday, is Labor Day. Let’s celebrate the holiday by exercising our prayer muscles. It’s easy, and I promise it won’t take much time. Set aside 10 mins–that’s right, the time if takes for a coffee break or to grill a burger–and say a small prayer for someone you know who is seeking employment right now. Be specific with your request, asking that God would lead them to a position of employment and provision for their household. That’s it.
The US Department of Labor reports that 14.9 million Americans (9.6%) are currently unemployed. You probably know some of them. They live on in your neighborhood, they shop in your grocery store, and for that matter, you may even be one of them. It’s been a long, dry season, hasn’t it?
God does care about hardships, even if it seems like He is silent at times. He is always working behind the scenes of our lives, and if we could pull back the curtain of the natural world–the things we can see and touch–we could see the intricacies of His hidden work in the great tapestry of our lives. Make no mistake: God will use every trial and tear for something bigger than our present situation … if only we grant Him access to our hearts.
Trusting God to take care of us is hard when there are bills on the table and dwindling funds in the bank. It’s hard when you are doing all that you can and still barely treading water in a sea of debt and discouragement. How can you keep the faith when you have responsibilities at home, including young lives that are depending on you?
When the road ahead is grim, it’s time to look back to where we’ve been. Look back and remember God’s faithfulness over the course of our lives. Remember His goodness when we faced that last, great trial. He was there, wasn’t He? God actually commands us to remember His goodness. Those recollections seal our faith so that we can pass yet again through another difficult season. After all, the promise was never that that journey would be easy. It was only that He would sustain us through the troubled times. And that’s a promise we can be certain will be honored. It’s worth is more secure than money in a bank. Especially these days, right?
So take just 10 minutes of your holiday this weekend and say a prayer for someone unemployed, even if that person is you.
“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”
–Philippians 4:6-7 MESSAGE
THE PROMISE: You will forget your suffering, recalling it only as waters gone by ..
“As for you, if you redirect your heart and lift up your hands to Him in prayer— if there is iniquity in your hand, remove it, and don’t allow injustice to dwell in your tents— then you will hold your head high, free from fault. You will be firmly established and unafraid. For you will forget your suffering, recalling it only as waters that have flowed by. Your life will be brighter than noonday; its darkness will be like the morning. You will be confident, because there is hope. You will look carefully about and lie down in safety.”
–Job 11:13-18 HCSB
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