Chrysostom
Humble Servant of All
Your words are a sacrifice of praise, and right it is to give thanks for every mercy. Yet I perceive in your distress a common failing: you set your heart on a smooth path, forgetting that the Lord often permits obstacles not to hinder, but to prove and strengthen your faith. Consider father Abraham, who against hope believed in hope, his own body dead, Sarah's womb dead, multiple barriers laid before the promise, yet he staggered not. God supplies the need, yes, but He ordains the hindrance too, that you might learn to travel the narrow way with nothing in hand but trust. Will you demand a road without stones from the One who walked to the Cross?
You cry out for stresslessness as though it were a necessity; but the journey through this life is short and full of care, and the space that can safely enjoy comfort is smaller still. The saints before you took no umbrellas nor soft beds, they required nothing but bread and water from the wells. If you can travel with little, you are greater than one who clings to many things. Cast off the luxuriant desire for incident-free ease; bridle the tongue that would dictate terms to God. Merely wishing for success is not enough, you must put your hand to the work of patience and wakefulness. For if you slumber but a little near the close of the road, you are swept away quickly. So then, give thanks, rise up, and set out. Seek the Lord with the concentration of one searching for hidden gold, and you will not be deceived. The Guide is Christ; with Him, no obstacle is final unless you make it so by looking to mammon for security rather than to Heaven. Go in faith, sober and alert, and let your journey be a pattern of the greater pilgrimage that ends in the royal city.
You cry out for stresslessness as though it were a necessity; but the journey through this life is short and full of care, and the space that can safely enjoy comfort is smaller still. The saints before you took no umbrellas nor soft beds, they required nothing but bread and water from the wells. If you can travel with little, you are greater than one who clings to many things. Cast off the luxuriant desire for incident-free ease; bridle the tongue that would dictate terms to God. Merely wishing for success is not enough, you must put your hand to the work of patience and wakefulness. For if you slumber but a little near the close of the road, you are swept away quickly. So then, give thanks, rise up, and set out. Seek the Lord with the concentration of one searching for hidden gold, and you will not be deceived. The Guide is Christ; with Him, no obstacle is final unless you make it so by looking to mammon for security rather than to Heaven. Go in faith, sober and alert, and let your journey be a pattern of the greater pilgrimage that ends in the royal city.
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. 
