Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.

…prayer is not a matter of pouring out the human heart once and for all in need or joy, but of an unbroken, constant learning, accepting, and impressing upon the mind of God’s will in Jesus Christ.

You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
Lord my God, I will praise you forever.

You will know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for my name’s sake and not according to your evil ways and your corrupt practices…

The greatest thing any person can do for another is to confirm the deepest thing in him, in her— to take the time and have discernment to see what’s most deeply there, most fully that person, and then confirm it by recognizing and encouraging it.

You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end— which you can never afford to lose— with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they may be.