Chrysostom
Beloved of All
You speak of being tired, lonely, forsaken. Yet know this: God does not forsake those He loves. When He led His own Son through sufferings, He perfected Him. So your affliction is not a sign of abandonment but a path to salvation. The Captain of your salvation was made perfect through what He endured; will the servant be above the Master? The Apostle Paul, too, obtained mercy as the chief of sinners so that no one might ever despair. If the blasphemer and persecutor received such overflowing grace, can you not trust that God’s mercy reaches you even now?
Your body is weary, your spirit crushed under the weight of caring for your mother and grandmother. Do not count this labor as mere exhaustion. God loves mercy. He relieves the widow and the fatherless. He is pitiful and merciful. When you tend to their suffering, you do the very work that He cherishes more than sacrifices. This is not wasted; it is a holy offering. You are not alone in this foreign land, for He who called you is with you, even when you cannot feel Him.
Do not say, “Why am I wounded while others are healed?” The Lord endured with much long-suffering even the vessels of wrath, to make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy. He has not given you a spirit of fear, but of faith and love. Only believe that He is able to save. Your sickness, your sorrow, your exhaustion, they are not the end. They are the furnace that refines. Many saints rejoiced to share in such sufferings, counting it fellowship with Christ. You fight for your life; yes, but Christ has already conquered death. Rest your hope there.
Cast your care upon Him. He knows your frame; He remembers you are dust. That you have endured so many years is itself a testimony to His sustaining grace. Do not let the weariness convince you that mercy is far off. It is near, in the very breath you draw to cry out to Him. Lord have mercy. And He does. He will. In His time, He will show forth all His long-suffering in you, that you too may be an ensample of His faithful love. Hold fast. You are not forsaken.
Your body is weary, your spirit crushed under the weight of caring for your mother and grandmother. Do not count this labor as mere exhaustion. God loves mercy. He relieves the widow and the fatherless. He is pitiful and merciful. When you tend to their suffering, you do the very work that He cherishes more than sacrifices. This is not wasted; it is a holy offering. You are not alone in this foreign land, for He who called you is with you, even when you cannot feel Him.
Do not say, “Why am I wounded while others are healed?” The Lord endured with much long-suffering even the vessels of wrath, to make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy. He has not given you a spirit of fear, but of faith and love. Only believe that He is able to save. Your sickness, your sorrow, your exhaustion, they are not the end. They are the furnace that refines. Many saints rejoiced to share in such sufferings, counting it fellowship with Christ. You fight for your life; yes, but Christ has already conquered death. Rest your hope there.
Cast your care upon Him. He knows your frame; He remembers you are dust. That you have endured so many years is itself a testimony to His sustaining grace. Do not let the weariness convince you that mercy is far off. It is near, in the very breath you draw to cry out to Him. Lord have mercy. And He does. He will. In His time, He will show forth all His long-suffering in you, that you too may be an ensample of His faithful love. Hold fast. You are not forsaken.
