‘“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip. “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money. “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’’ Matthew 25:14-20(NLT)
‘“So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom.’ Luke 12:32(NLT)
‘Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. ‘ Ephesians 3:20(NLT)
‘Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.’ Isaiah 41:10(NLT)
‘He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.’ Isaiah 40:29(NLT)
When I resigned from my reporting job, I was ready to also call it quits with writing. I did not want to go near anything that required writing, and I was quite happy to look for a career in accounting, which was the degree I graduated with.
However, God had other plans for me. At a leadership weekend at my church, I heard a sermon by American pastor John Bevere, which had me retracting my earlier decision. Pastor Bevere spoke on the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), which is about a group of servants who are entrusted with talents to look after while their master is away. A few tend to and grow their gifts, but one of the servants hides his talent. When his master discovers this, he reprimands the servant for being wicked and lazy, and takes his talent away from him.
The sermon reminded me to make use of my talents properly, and convicted me that I should really give writing another go. Sometimes, as we ask God to show us what steps to take next, we fail to take little steps of obedience now.
For me, I had to start writing again as an act of obedience to God.
I wish I could tell you that job offers came pouring in after I started writing for YMI. But they didn’t. The rejection emails continued to come. There were nights I would lie awake, worrying about my future and comparing my situation with friends who had fancy job titles.
Yet God has promised us that He will look after us and that He has our future in His hands. Luke 12:32 gave me a lot of comfort during this time. “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.”
I waited for what seemed like eternity before I was offered my current job. And you know what? It was so much better than what I could have ever hoped and prayed for. It came with an attractive pay, a better work environment, and regular work hours.
Perhaps you are in a similar situation. Maybe you have applied for so many jobs that you have lost count and you feel like you are about to buckle from parental and peer pressure. But take heart and know that God is a God of more than enough (Ephesians 3:20). He will uphold you with His right hand (Isaiah 41:10), and He will give strength to the weary (Isaiah 40:29).–Michele Ong
from Question Life