"For our petty fears of loss You have in keeping a greater gain than all of which we dreamed..."

A few months ago I discovered, on Miriam's recommendation, a wonderful little gem of a book called 'Streams in the Desert', which is a collection of daily devotional readings pulled together by L.B. Cowman, who by the sounds of it was (is??) an awesome woman of God .
And I can honestly say today that so far my faith has been challenged and nurtured by it! Of course it would, and never will, replace God's amazing Word, but through it, every day, I have been nourished and blessed. I would sincerely advise anyone who finds life 'hard work', busy and a struggle at times, to hurry up and get a copy; anyone who finds themselves frequently weak, weary, parched will be hugely built up by the anointed wisdom that is there in every page.

Today, I felt I had to share a few lines, as I was blown away by their relevance for my life, in general and right now..."Weeping inconsolably beside a grave will never bring back the treasure of a lost love, nor can any blessing come from such great sadness. Sorrow causes deep scars, and indelibly writes its story on the suffering heart. We never completely recover from our greatest griefs and are never exactly the same after having passed through them. Yet sorrow that is endured in the right spirit impacts our growth favourably and brings us a greater sense of compassion for others. Indeed those who have no scars of sorrow or suffering upon them are poor. (...) Sitting down and brooding over our sorrow deepens the darkness surrounding us, allowing it to creep into our heart. (...) But if we will turn from the gloom and remain faithful to the calling of God, the light will shine again and we will grow stronger. J.R. Miller"

To me, this felt like confirmation that my responses to every sadness that I have ever had to go through have been right. Here and here you can read a little bit of my story...