QUESTION: What does the Bible say about providing for one’s family? Under what circumstances does 1 Timothy 5:8 apply?  What does God expect from us when there are no jobs to be found?

THE QUESTION OF PROVISION is an important one. It touches upon the roles of gender and their responsibility in providing for family. It seeks to understand how faith is tied to our ability to provide. It even invokes our perceived sense of personal worth as it’s subconsciously gauged by us and others. But most importantly of all, the question of provision is defined and answered in God’s Divine Will. Whether you are a man or a woman, there is something God expects, and even demands in regard to provision. In this, there is both a blessing and a curse.

In the blessing we have hope. When we discover the Divine provision to provide, nothing is impossible (Matthew 19:26). It is then that we cease to be victims of unemployment and become overcomers instead. Depression turns to joyful anticipation, the desire to give up turns into a passion to press forward, and the expectation of failure becomes an expectation of reward. Where we once held self-pity and shame, we will hold the promises of God in assurance. In this hope, we will begin to see our purpose, our value, our worth, as they truly are in God, and we’ll be drawn by passion to press ever closer to Him. God is our provider, our joy, and our reward.

But in the curse we will have the reward of unbelievers. By sitting around and doing nothing, expecting God to meet our needs, we deny our faith and come under judgment. Doing nothing causes us to fail the will and provision of God, and receive in ourselves the due reward of our disobedience. Even what we have will be taken from us. The love and respect of others will pass us by, as sons and daughters not worthy of their calling (2 Thessalonians 1:10-11).

Is the issue of provision really that serious? Indeed it is.

“…if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (1 Timothy 5:8, NASB)

Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. (Romans 11:22, NKJV)

Failing to provide is an offense and a slander against God Himself. It’s a failure to work out our own salvation (Philippians 2:12). It’s a denial of our faith. Consider why this is so.

YOU ARE THE FIG TREE:

When I prayed and asked God what I should teach about provision, I felt compelled to study fig trees in scripture. The fig tree is used to represent Israel as God’s chosen people, and consequently it represents everyone who partakes of their covenant of salvation (all born-again believers). Thus fig trees can be seen to represent you and me. So God had me consider the account of Jesus and the fig tree that did not provide.

On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. {13} Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. {14} He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening. … {20} As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. {21} Being reminded, Peter said to Him, “Rabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered.” (Mark 11:12-14, 20-21, NASB)

If we are the tree, consider what this passage means for you and me. Jesus walks up to us, finds that we aren’t providing, and curses us even though jobs are “out of season.” Like a fruit tree out of season, the ability to provide is completely outside of our control and yet we are cursed. How is this fair? Why would Jesus do this?

The answer is that while the means to provide is truly outside of our control, it is not outside of God’s control. So where is our faith in God? We have denied it, and remain fruitless when Jesus comes to check on us out of season. We are cursed for our failure to work out our own salvation, which is to say, we are cursed for not putting our faith to work.

When the disciples commented on the severity of the curse upon the tree, listen to what Jesus says:

“And Jesus answered saying to them, “Have faith in God.” (Mark 11:22, NASB)

Our failure to provide is a reflection of our failure in the realm of faith. That is why we are told:

“But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (1 Timothy 5:8, NASB)

A working faith turns to God for the provision to provide. This is why Jesus comes to us as fig trees out of season expecting to find fruit. He expects us to provide, because we claim to have faith in God as our provider. God promises us that we can come to Him anytime, both in season and out of season, and He will provide for us. Nothing is impossible for God. So we place our faith in His ability to provide no matter what the circumstances. Thus, our faith in God’s ability to provide for us guarantees us the provision to provide. It’s by this faith that we call upon God to open doors that are naturally closed. It’s our faith in God’s provision for provision that calls upon God to guide us in our job hunts, and to bless us with work no one else could have expected to find.

So, when a man does not turn to God, but instead succumbs to the natural seasons, he denies his faith, which is to say, he denies the God in whom he has faith for all things. He says by his actions, “God will not provide, and I can do nothing.” This denial of faith leaves us as fig trees with no fruit. And when Jesus finds us in this faithless state, He curses us.

For clarity, we won’t necessarily be cursed immediately. God gives us a period of grace, the length of which is entirely determined by God’s will for each of us individually. During that period of grace, God works with us, and gives us what we need to press forward in faith and begin producing. But judgment will come to those who resist and fail the grace of God. Jesus spoke of this in a parable, saying:

Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. {7} So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ {8}” ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. {9} If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’ “(Luke 13:6-9, NIV)

God has mercy on us. He will give us what we need to become fruitful, we just have to respond correctly in faith.

So that brings us to the next thing I’d like to talk about, namely, how we are supposed to use our faith to provide instead of denying it and being fruitless.

GOD RESPONDS TO OUR FAITH, NOT OUR NEEDS:

Everything we receive from the Lord is through faith, and not merely because we had a need. Just because you have a need does not mean God will meet it. In other words, God does not respond to our need; He responds to our faith. This requires our faith to be proactive rather than passive. So true faith can never be said to be mute and blind, because faith acts upon what it believes, and cries out, actively pursuing God for the provision He already set aside for us to take.

FAITH IS NOT SILENT:

As Jesus was taking the road out of Jericho with His disciples one day, a huge crowd began following after Him. Ahead of them on the road was a blind man named Bartimaeus. Hearing all the commotion approaching, he began asking those around him what it was all about. When Bartimaeus learned that it was Jesus, he began crying out to Him for mercy. People scolded him for making a scene himself, and tried to quiet him, but he only cried out more, desperate to be heard. As a result of this persistence, Jesus stopped and made time for him.

Think about that for a minute. Multitudes were crowding around Jesus. I’m sure most of them had needs just like you and me. But Jesus didn’t stop for their needs. It wasn’t until a faith for a need cried out, and would not be silenced, that Jesus stopped. It was the voice (or work) of faith, not the silence of a need, that got Jesus’s attention.

Now listen to what God required of that working faith before any need was met.

And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.” So they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.” {50} Throwing aside his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. {51} And answering him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” (Mark 10:49-51, NASB)

Why would Jesus ask a blind man what he needed? Wasn’t it obvious? Of course it was, but Jesus wasn’t stopping on account of a need. Jesus was headed elsewhere. He was on assignment. Not even a crowd of needy people was delaying Him. But then a faith exercised it’s authority and right to call upon God for a provision that naturally, no one could expect to receive. So Jesus stopped and responded to faith, making a point to ask Bartimaeus what his faith was asking for.

If Bartimaeus had said, “I don’t want to trouble you for anything big, but could you heal my arthritis?” then that is exactly what he would have gotten. Had he not asked for anything but a blessing, he would have gotten nothing but a blessing. But Bartimaeus knew exactly what his faith was calling upon Jesus to provide. He wanted his sight. And when Jesus heard his faith speak, He said:

“Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. (Mark 10:52, NIV)

FAITH IS NOT BLIND:

Bartimaeus was blind, but his faith wasn’t. He did not sit quietly hoping Jesus would see him and have compassion on his need. But that is exactly what we are tempted to do when we are in need of something that only supernatural provision can provide. When things are beyond our control we will often say to ourselves, “God knows about my need, when He wants to meet it, He will.” That is blind faith. Blind faith denies true faith. It’s a willful ignorance that is disobedient to the revelation that God has given us about the way of life – it’s like a body believing that God will provide oxygen but failing to breath. There is a way and a means by which provision is delivered to us, and we are expected to obediently participate in it. Here’s how.

We are to have faith as a child (Matthew 18:3). A child observes the love of their earthly father. They see the fathers trustworthiness and provision demonstrated over and over again. They realize that they can trust their father. And so their faith comes to rest on what has already been demonstrated. Then, when the day comes when the father asks the child to do something that could have serious consequences for them if the father doesn’t come through, the child has faith. That faith is not blind, because it has already seen the father’s faithfulness and dependability. And that faith is not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7), because the child is trusting even though he has never seen the father perform under the current conditions and situation before. This is the faith of a child, being both secure on established history, and yet able to trust in unproven situations.

Blind faith, on the other hand, is ignorant. It has no proof that what it trusts for will be provided. It’s hope is not a confident expectation, but an uncertain gamble. Will God meet your needs? Maybe. Maybe not. This kind of faith grows from a broken relationship. It rises from the heart of one who has grown up hearing more about their father than learning from personal interaction with him. And so they never know what to expect. They can never be sure what they can ask for and receive, and what they cannot. They neither know the ways of their father, nor the means by which he provides for his own. So they must guess. They must rely on what others tell them. And they are often disappointed because of their errant assumptions and failed gambles.

Blind faith is healed by abiding, which is to say, living with the Father. Jesus says:

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. (John 15:4, NKJV)

To the extent that you abide in Christ you will bear fruit and will be able to provide for your family. That simply means that…

• the more you interact with God in prayer,
• basing your prayers upon the record of His word,
• and believing in the guarantee of His promises,
• having studied the way and means by which God provides through faith,
• and then approach Him in the approved manner,

…the more you will partake of the provision to provide because you will know the Provider intimately.

Needless to say, being away at boarding school and relying upon letters and word of mouth to develop your relationship is not the same as living in the same house as your father and relating to him in person. The farther away you live, the more blind your faith will become in relation to your father. So put some effort into your prayer life and study to show yourself approved by God, as a workman of faith who doesn’t need to be ashamed, having rightly applied the scriptures to your life (2 Timothy 2:15)

FAITH BELIEVES:

Faith is belief in action. If you believe that you are on a volcano that is about to explode, what do you do? If you believe that you are holding the winning lottery ticket, what do you do? If you believe that someone you love wants something, what do you do? If you believe that God is capable of providing for your needs, what do you do? *you sit and wait* No, you take action. Your faith in the legitimacy of what you believe demands an appropriate response.

Thus, God demands that we exercise our faith in accordance with what we believe. And what we believe is to be in line with God’s will. So when we believe, it is said to be the work of God (John 6:29). God’s will becomes our will, His passion becomes our passion, His ability to provide becomes our ability to provide. “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13, ESV).

What does this kind of believing faith look like in real life?

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. {25} And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. {26} She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. {27} When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, {28} because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” {29} Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

{30} At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

{31} “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

{32} But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. {33} Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. {34} He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

So how do we do this today? Jesus is no longer physically here. But in His place, on His behalf, Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit. You might think of the Holy Spirit at a phone line between you and Jesus. But really, that is a terrible example because the connection that the Holy Spirit provides is intimate. There is no distance in intimacy, there is only contact. The presence of the Lord is the very presence of the Holy Spirit, they are one and the same.

So how do we approach the presence of Jesus as the woman did?

1) Do not quench the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19, ESV)

The Holy Spirit is the Vein that delivers life from the Vine of Christ. First, notice the life that results from indwelling.

“I am the Vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:5, KJV)

We can do nothing in life without the Holy Spirit who was sent to us on Christ’s behalf. It is for this reason that the Holy Spirit is referred to in scripture as “the Spirit of Christ” (Romans 8:9; 1 Peter 1:11). Christ dwells in us, and we in Him, via the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9-11). When He tells us that without Him we can do nothing, He is speaking of His work in us through the Holy Spirit. Thus we remain alive for as long as Christ is in us via the Spirit.

So if Jesus is the Vine, and we are the branches, what is quenching the Spirit? Think about a branch for a moment. How is a branch supplied with sap? Sap is supplied through the internal veins that link a branch to its vine. How does Christ abide in us and work out His will? He abides in us, and we in Him, through the Holy Spirit. This means that the Holy Spirit is the conduit of life and power between Christ and His saints.

Can this connection be restricted (quenched) or even severed? Absolutely! Just as a vein can become clogged up, so can our spiritual Vein become quenched by sin. If this happens, God will identify the sin that is blocking the conduit of our relationship (Philippians 3:15). If we ignore His warnings and instructions on how to repent and correct the problem, we will wither and die spiritually for lack of life giving nutrients.

The quenching of the Holy Spirit should thus be taken as seriously as the clogging of arteries. For the Holy Spirit is the spiritual Vein through which the life giving blood of Christ flows to every believer. Many believers have fallen into addictions and habits that have clogged their lifeline to God. Their ministers often prescribe to them false doctrines of forgiveness and love that are not conditional upon obedience, thereby dooming them to reliance upon false forms of repentance.

Yet any medical doctor will inform you that you must cease from eating the kinds of junk food that clog up the human system, and begin to exercise, if you desire to live. Should it surprise us, then, that the Creator of the human body gives us the same diagnosis for our spirit?

“For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” (1 Timothy 4:8, KJV)

“Wherefore, my beloved, …work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. {13} For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12-13, KJV)

“For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” (Romans 8:13, KJV)

“Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” (1 Corinthians 12:27, KJV)

“In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:22, KJV)

If we want to live, we must begin to exercise obedience. By doing so, we will be “working out” unto salvation. We must “exercise” our gifts and “walk” in the Spirit. These are all terms of healthy exertion. The more we work out spiritually, the more the Holy Spirit will pump the cleansing blood of Christ through our system and unclog our veins allowing them to flow unrestricted. This is how we will keep our spiritual hearts clean.

This naturally leads us to our second point.

2) Sin hinders our prayers. Repentance ushers them through.

Sin quenches the Holy Spirit to through whom our prayers travel to Jesus and then to the Father. When the Holy Spirit is quenched, so are our prayers (1 Peter 3:7). Sin in our life hinders our prayers, repentance and obedience cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:9). Our lifestyle and relationships have direct affect upon our prayer life.  If we constantly give ourselves over to unhealthy behavior in relation to ourselves and others, it naturally clogs up the spiritual veins that connect us to the life of God.  Thus, God connects our marriage, our relationships with others, and our repentance to the effectiveness of our prayer life and received blessing.

Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers. (1 Peter 3:7, NIV)

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7 KJV)

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9 KJV)

These two points stand as the reason behind most people’s failed prayer life. They are the reason most of their prayers remain unanswered.

While restoration may take a while to be wholly completed in your life, you can get your prayer life back in order as soon as genuine repentance has occurred. Therefore, don’t be discouraged if your life is a shipwreck. Repent. Genuinely. Truly. And with the resolve to obey and do what is right instead of what you used to do in sin. Once that is dealt with, your prayers will begin to flow again.

MAKING IT WORK:

STEP ONE: Repent.
Ask the Lord to reveal to you anything that is hindering your prayers. Then respond with repentance and obedience.

STEP TWO: Follow repentance with obedience.
Obedience is not random acts of kindness.  That is blind faith at work.  Instead, obedience involves response to Divine instruction.  Unless you are aware of what God has commanded, you cannot possibly obey instruction you haven’t received.

Divine instruction and direction is what you want in life.  It’s what you need in life.  So here’s how to get it.

Your first step of obedience after repentance is conforming your mind to Christ.  When you do this, your faith will be supplied with things that you believe you can ask for.  Here’s the promise:

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Romans 12:2, KJV)

Did you catch that? When you pursue God, seeking His will, His way, and His work, you’ll find it. Let me say that again. You will find the will of God. When you find the will of God, it will renew your mind, in that you will know what is good, acceptable, and perfect in the will of God. No more guessing in blind faith. Faith knows, and knowing is believing, and believing is action, and action is obedience, and obedience is the response to Divine direction and commands.

Step One and Two are summarized in scripture this way:

You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. {3} When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

{4} You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. {5} Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? {6} But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

{7} Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. {8} Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. {9} Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. {10} Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:2-10, NIV)

STEP THREE: Start asking according to the will of the Lord.
It’s time to stop asking God for things with wrong motives (which is the result of blind faith). It’s time to start asking God with informed faith. You will know what to ask for when you know what the will of the Lord is. So cease from sin and press in through obedience, prayer, and study.
God knows what His will for our prayer is. It’s time we found out.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. {12} Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. {13} You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:11-13, NIV)

For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. (Philippians 2:13, NIV)

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. (Mark 11:24, NIV)

Many people read this verse and become confused.  They think they are being told that they will be given whatever they ask for if they just believe blindly for it.  But it only takes one unfulfilled prayer to realize that this is not what is being promised.

The key is found in this phrase: “believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

That tells us that we are supposed to be asking for something that God has already given to us.  The present is already under the tree with our name on it.  All that is left is for us to see it, and then ask for it, believing that it’s God’s gift to us.   This all begins with prayer.  It begins with a conversation with God wherein God reveals to you that He has set a present for you under the tree.  Only then will you be able to run there to see it, and ask for it believing that it’s yours.

These three steps form the basis for answered prayer. There is much more that could be added, but this is where you start.

FURTHER CONSIDERATION:

Additionally, here are some other important things for you to consider when seeking the Lord for provision.

GENDER AND PROVISION:

So who is supposed to provide for a family? The husband or the wife? We need not speculate, here’s the order as ordained by God:

For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. {24} Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

{25} Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her {26} to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, {27} and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. (Ephesians 5:23-27, NIV)

Who provides? Christ first, then the husband, then the wife. That is the ordained order.

What that looks like in real life, however, is another matter. The order of responsibility will always remain, but the nature of the work can vary wildly. I know a case where the husband was called into study for a season, and the wife was provided a job to support them both during that time.   That wasn’t the husbands idea, it was God’s, and God spoke it to the wife first, then later to the husband.

Provision is bearing fruit, in season, and out of season. Performing the Lord’s will naturally provides fruit. In the aforementioned example, the husband and wife obeyed the will of the Lord, and God provided for their monetary needs. That is the nature of provision – obeying the will of the Lord.

Now that example I gave brings up an important aspect of provision and family, namely, that both the husband and the wife should be on the same page regarding the Lord’s will.

THE UNITY OF MARRIAGE:

When a man and a woman marry, they become “one” in all aspects of their union. Therefore when God gives direction to the man as head of the household, a submitted wife will hear that calling in her own spirit and be happy to support the calling. That is part of the role of a helpmate.

There is nothing more disheartening then when a husband and wife are pulling in two opposite directions. There’s also nothing more hindering to God’s will. If I feel that God has called me to do something, or accomplish something, and my wife is not immediately supportive, I pray. I pray that God would confirm His will to me through my wife, by placing that calling upon her heart too. And if that isn’t God’s will, I ask that He confirm it in my spirit and give me the confidence and passion to meet His call even without her support. If I don’t receive a confirmation from God or from my wife, I don’t move ahead until I find out what the problem is.

Now there will be times when either the husband or the wife is out of order. If that happens to be the wife, then the husband must ask that God confirm His calling so that he can have the assurance that he is in God’s His will and may proceed while God works on the wife’s heart. That should be every man’s prayer. And if the husband is out of order, the wife can support him just the same (assuming it’s not a sin to do so) while in prayer asking God to redirect the husband back to God’s will. There is tremendous power in submission in regard to leadership that I won’t go into here for the sake of focus, but suffice it to say, there is always a way to confirm the Lord’s will. We are never called to walk in blind faith or assumption.

GETTING A JOB OUTSIDE OF GOD’S PROVISION:

The man in my example, who was called to study for ministry, sought and found three jobs before correctly discovering the Lord’s will for his life. The Lord did not meet him in those jobs.  Because of that, the jobs taxed him tremendously, some physically, but all emotionally. It wasn’t until he and his wife began to pray and seek the will of the Lord that they found it.

The answer came first to the man’s wife. Excited at this revelation, she happily informed her husband that he didn’t have to go to work anymore. He, however, had no confirmation in his spirit, and dared not quite job simply because his wife said he could. Besides, she didn’t have a job at the time, so they would have had no income.

But because they were both praying, God sent the man a confirmation. While praying about his work situation, and asking the Lord why He wasn’t supporting him in the past three jobs he had held, the phone rang. It was an acquaintance that he didn’t know very well. The caller said that God had compelled him to call and urge the man to devote all his time to study. After the call ended, the phone rang again. It was another acquaintance who was calling with the same message. And then a third call with the same message came in. After hanging up with the third caller, God confirmed that these were not random calls, but were from the Lord. Then the message was made clear, the man was to quit those jobs to which God had not called him, and get to work on the job God truly had for him – study.

Simply finding work is not the answer. Finding the will of the Lord is the answer. If you find a job by yourself, you will have to bear it’s burden by yourself. That was the very cry of the man’s heart before he received those three phone calls. He had found work, but by his own initiative. And he was suffering for it.

CONCLUSION:

Determine within your own spirit that you will be faithful to God and believe that because He exists, you can and will trust Him to provide for your needs so that you may provide for the needs of your family in the way that God desires.

Next, start pursuing Him fervently in prayer. You already know that you need to provide for your family, it’s just a matter of how you should provide. So instead of asking if you can have a job, ask for a specific kind of job. Maybe you already know what kind of job you want or need. If not, ask for God to place something on your heart that you can ask for. The bottom line here is that if God is giving you something to do, that is your job.

Then resume your search for a job. Don’t give up!

“…Without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6, KJV)

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. {6} But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. {7} That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; {8} he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. (James 1:5-8, NIV)

God pays for what He orders. He will support you in whatever work or calling that He gives you. But if you pursue something out of your own ambition, you will have to support it yourself, for it is not of God. Eventually it will burn you out. So be sure you confirm God’s order so that God supports the work, and you are not left carrying the burden yourself.

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