It is no small mercy, this, that while the storm in your home has not yet spent itself, you have found a quieter harbor in your own soul. The winds still blow, the waves still beat against the side, but you have discovered the true ballast lies below, where Christ sits in the vessel. Some things are better than a smooth sea: and one of them is a steady heart. You tell me that her ways have not much altered, and the sharp words still come, and the dark moods still rise like a mist. Yet you have been quicker to run to the Word, quicker to set your face toward the Throne. This is a far greater work than any outward change. The Lord Jesus has been giving you Himself, and Himself is the fountain that never fails.
It may be that for a long while yet the daily cross will be heavy. I do not wonder that your spirit sometimes staggers under it. A man may bear a burden bravely while the cheering of the crowd is in his ears, but it is quite another thing to bear it on and on in the grey dawn, when no one sees and no one speaks. Yet I want you to think of this: the grace that is given you in the secret place is truer and more heavenly than any grace that comes by outward comfort. We would all like the banquet spread in a fair meadow, with the sunshine warm upon our faces. But sometimes the Lord spreads the feast in the lower room, where the candle is dim and the walls are bare. And there He sits Himself, the unseen Guest, and breaks the bread for us, and the taste of that bread lingers longer. Do not despise the dim room. Do not think your prayers are wasted because the outward answer tarries. The prayer that finds no immediate answer on the surface often roots itself deeper and brings up a richer store from the soil below.
You speak of her as one bound by these things, the cursing, the controlling, the relentless noise of a mind that cannot rest. I have seen such chains, and I know the sight of them breaks the heart of love. But remember that the Lord who sits above the floods is also the one who walks upon them. He has come near to many a soul in the very thick of its madness, when the man himself could not reach out, when no kindly hand could pierce the thicket. And He is not baffled. The power of Christ in the Gospel is mainly a healing power. He did not come down from the throne to break bruised reeds into smaller pieces; He came to bind them up. And when the fault lies deep, hidden in the tangle of the thoughts and the inflammation of the nerves, still, the great Physician knows His work. He has set many a legion-ridden man at His own feet, clothed and in his right mind. Do not measure what He can do by what has been done yet; measure it by what His blood has purchased, and by what His intercession pleads.
In the meantime, take heed to your own soul. You have found it a blessed thing to go at once to the Word when the trouble rises. That well of water within you, that inner spring of life, must be drawn upon every hour. The life of God in the soul is not a pond that fills once and then stands stagnant; it is a well, and a well must be drawn from continually, else it grows choked. Every hard look, every bitter syllable, may become the handle of the bucket. Dip deep, and the water will be fresh and sweet. Prayer need not be long; prayer need not be on your knees; prayer need not even be in words. The soul that learns to breathe Godward in the thick of the trial has found the secret of unceasing prayer. A sigh, a glance, a silent lifting of the heart, these are known in heaven. Sometimes the black-edged envelope, when we open it, is found to contain a love-letter after all.
And do not think it strange that you must bear this load largely alone. There are burdens which no other shoulder can share. Our natural depravity, our own besetting sins, and the deep tangles of our domestic lives, these are things each man must carry for himself before the Lord. No friend can creep inside your spirit; no counselor can take the place of the Great High Priest who alone can fully enter into our griefs. But oh, let this drive you the more eagerly to Him who never wearies, who never misunderstands, who never turns away from the cry of the broken. All they that are fat upon the earth, the strong and flourishing saints, still eat of His flesh and drink of His blood. None can keep alive his own soul. The empty and the full alike draw water from the same Rock. You are not less a child because you must come so often; you are the more a child, and that pleases your Father well.
I would not have you look upon that dear soul you long to see healed as if her cure were all the work. There is a deeper malady than any outward behavior, and that is the root-sin that binds the whole human family. And that, too, the Lord has undertaken to heal. He who forgives the iniquity is the same who speaks the word of healing. One day, in His own bright hour, He will speak the word over your household, and you will marvel at the completeness of the change. Until then, let the hope of it sweeten the waiting, and let the present grace be its own daily miracle. A soul growing in faith under heavy trials is as fair a sight as a sick body raised from the couch. And it may be that the first and best answer to your prayers is what is happening now in your own heart.
Let me commend you to the one who holds the stars in His right hand and yet carries the lambs in His bosom. May He give you an inward peace that no outward tempest can disquiet. May you hear His voice behind you saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” even when the path is rough. And may the day soon break when you and your beloved shall together tell of the faithfulness of Him who heals the broken in heart and binds up all their wounds, through Jesus Christ your Lord. Amen.
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. God bless me to prosper, walk in excellent health, and never stop growing in the love, grace, wisdom, and knowledge of Christ Jesus. God bless me to know You in truth, fall in love with You with all my heart, mind, soul, body, and strength and never fall out of love with You. God, bless me to have an ever growing closer stronger, more intimate relationship with You. Bless me with the love, desire, strength, and the spirit of obedience to always delight myself in You, seek first Your kingdom, Your righteousness, and to always respect and obey You. Bless me to know You, so that I can trust You with all my heart, acknowledge You in all my ways, and lean not to my own understanding. Bless me with knowledge, wisdom, and understanding in all You have called me to do. 
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