Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

When all kinds of cross and trouble oppress me and poverty gnaws at me, when my heart cries nothing but blood and my heartache throbs without ceasing, then I will say, "Why are you downcast, my heart?  If in the beginning you count your troubles, you will find no comfort.  Think of Jesus in the beginning.  Put Him before everything.  See how He sanctified and hallowed your grief by His own misery and hardship.  See how He won eternal salvation which you can confidently expect after this present poverty."  Then my misery will be filled with such sweetness that I will have patience and be able to forget my grief. -- Valerius Herberger, The Great Works of God, p. 33.