Trusting God in the Dark
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After I had completed college, it was time for me to enter the working world. I was so excited to be going on this new venture called independence.
But independence was not as easy as I thought it would be.
I found myself among thousands of young people looking for work.
I sent out more than a hundred job applications, yet days turned into weeks which turned into months, and it became so frustrating. I became depressed.
As I cried through the long nights, I wondered whether God could hear my prayers. One day my mother saw me sitting in the dark. “What’s wrong? Why are you sitting in the dark? Are you sick?” she asked. When I responded, “No,” she turned on the light and sat down beside me, and we began to talk. Mothers are like counselors: they listen, give constructive advice, and motivate their children. After we had talked, I asked her to pray for me.
No one should ever have to feel like this. Have you been in a similar situation and felt depressed? This experience taught me that being upset with the world and with myself did not make the process of gaining employment any easier or faster.
As I prayed, the Lord revealed these verses to me: “Now faith is the substance of things hope for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1, KJV).
“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (Luke 11:9, 10, NIV).
I know it is not easy when someone says, “Be patient; everything takes time.” This is especially hard to hear if you are anxious to start your life.
God asks us to cast all our cares upon Him (1 Peter 5:7). He is the Burden Bearer, the Great Healer, and our Provider. He has our future in His sights.
Do not give up. Stand firm, and leave it in the hands of God. Thanks be to God, I did find employment, and I am forever grateful to the Almighty for His goodness toward me.
Novalee Sherman
