The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
Psalm 34:18John Calvin:: "God does not promise his children a life of ease; rather, he assures them of his presence in their affliction. When the heart is shattered, when every earthly support crumbles, it is precisely then that God draws nearest. He does not stand at a distance to observe our suffering -- he enters into it, for he is close to those whose spirits have been crushed by the weight of this world."
Augustine of Hippo:: "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you. Yet it is in the breaking of that restless heart -- when all self-reliance is stripped away -- that the soul discovers what it could never learn in strength: that God himself is the portion of those who have nothing left to offer but their brokenness."
Ambrose of Milan, *On the Duties of the Clergy*:: "We must not think that patience is a sign of weakness. It is the mark of the greatest strength. For what is more powerful than to endure injury without bitterness, to bear affliction without complaint, and to remain steadfast in hope when all outward circumstances counsel despair? The patient soul does not flee from suffering but receives it as a furnace in which lesser things are burned away, leaving only what is pure."
Tertullian, *De Patientia*:: "Patience is the mother of all virtues. She stands at the gate of holiness, admitting only those who have learned to bear what they would rather escape. The impatient man is always reaching for what is not yet given; the patient man has learned to receive each moment as from the hand of God -- whether it comes as joy or as sorrow. Neither haste nor delay troubles him, for he has entrusted his times to one who is never early and never late."
What if the fog you cannot see through this morning is not an obstacle to faith, but the very medium in which faith learns to walk without sight?
Epictetus, *Discourses*, Book I.1:: "Some things are within our power, while others are not. Within our power are opinion, motivation, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever is of our own doing. Not within our power are our body, our property, reputation, office, and, in a word, whatever is not of our own doing. So when you imagine that what is not in your power is truly yours, you will be hindered, you will lament, you will be disturbed, and you will blame both gods and men. But when you regard as yours only what is truly yours, and as another's what belongs to another, no one will ever compel you, no one will restrain you, you will not blame anyone, you will not accuse anyone, you will do nothing against your will."
Fog +52°F Humidity:94% Wind:↙5mph