It is no small thing to desire a never-ending happiness in your relationship with God. This is the very end for which you were made. But know this: the devil, that wicked monster, never despairs of your destruction, even when you have made progress. Do not, then, despair of your own salvation. For to sin does not destroy so much as to despair. He who has offended, if he is vigilant, quickly amends by repentance. The present life is a sleep, and its troubles are like dreams. Those who grow rich in a dream wake to find they were rich to no purpose; so too, before we depart this life, those dreams often fly away. Let this give you patience. You say there is no promise of tomorrow; that is true, and so much the more reason to cling to God today, without setting a time for deliverance. When you fall into tribulation, do not be in haste to be delivered. Prepare your mind for all endurance, and speedily you shall be delivered. For God brings it upon you that He may chasten you and draw you nearer.
As for your bodily needs, hear what the Apostle says: “Make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.” That does not forbid caring for the body’s necessities, but doing so for wantonness. To use a little wine for the stomach’s sake is one thing; to be gluttonous or drunken is another. So too, when your family lacks food, this is a real need, not a lust. Take courage: God sees your want. But do not sink into despair. The three children in the furnace did not say, “If He does not deliver us by this day, we will cease to trust.” They said, “Our God is able to deliver us; but if not, we will not serve your gods.” They entered the fire expecting to die, and yet they were delivered. So you, too, fix no deadline for God’s mercy. Instead, fight against the devil’s temptation to despond. He brings in great sins from little things, and then from those sins he brings despair, which is worse than the sins themselves. Even a publican, that most sordid of men, was set free quickly by obeying the laws of the heavenly physician. That chief publican Zacchaeus promised fourfold restitution and half his goods to the poor, and Christ came to his house. Has God not power to feed your brothers and sisters? Does He not know your need?
Therefore, do not fatten the body with anxious cares, nor be water-logged by luxury, but seek a sufficiency. Pray with confidence, saying, “Give us this day our daily bread.” And then labor for the food that endures to eternal life. Short is this present life, and small the labor, even if it seems great. But if you toil not at this most glorious toil of repentance and virtue, you will surely weary yourself in other ways without reward. Lay hold of the way that leads to life, shut not the doors, close not the entrance. Be ever confident, and rouse yourself. Where you see lack, trust that God’s provision will be made known in the morning, for even tonight may bring relief. But if it tarries, patience is your gain. For the present pain and loss you speak of, bear them as a light and momentary affliction, knowing that they produce a weight of glory beyond all comparison. Let the devil stir up the contest; he knows you are in training, and he never rests. But do not let him outdo you in persistence. Fight, not in your own strength, but with the weapons Christ gives. And when you fail, repent immediately, for the physician is always near. The fever of anxiety and the fever of want He can cool, as He did with many. So do not despair, but keep fighting, and your relationship with God will grow into that unending happiness, not by never feeling pain, but by holding fast through every trial. I pray with you for your brothers, for your whole family, and for that patience which sees beyond tomorrow.
Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. 
