I’m a big fan of Diet Coke. I drink it every day—often more than one a day—especially when I’m working. At my last job, I got my Diet Coke from a vending machine in the office kitchen. One thing that I never got used to is the fact that no matter how many times a day or how many days a week I went to that same vending machine, it never learned what I needed! I could put in my money and wait as long as I wanted, but I would never get that Diet Coke until I actually pushed the button. It was ready, willing, and (most of the time) able to fulfill my needs/desires, but I still had to ask for what I wanted.

As I sat in church last Sunday, it occurred to me that maybe that was how I’d been approaching God with my job situation. I truly believed that He could—and would—provide me with a job. I had lots of friends and family praying for me to find my new job. After all, didn’t the Bible promise “ask and it shall be given to you”? Then all at once it dawned on me that I had skipped the “ask” part and was just waiting for the giving. I had done all I could—registered on the websites for job seekers, applied for jobs that I thought might be a good fit, signed up with a well-known staffing agency—everything I could possibly to do get myself and my résumé out there and available. But I had never actually asked God myself for a new job.

So I did—right then. I asked specifically for God to bring me the new job that was right for me and my needs. On the way out of church, I ran into a friend who gave me a tip on an opening. Monday I applied. Now I am asking that God would give me that job if it’s the right one for me, or the one that IS right. I don’t know when I will get this new job; hopefully, it will be before my savings run out.

At least now I’ve done the rest of my part. I’ve asked.