Discouragement

A note from Max Lucado (from He Still Moves Stones):

"Is there anything more frail than a bruised reed? Look at the bruised reed at the water's edge. A once slender and tall stalk of sturdy river grass, it is now bowed and bent.

Are you a bruised reed? Was it so long a go that you stood so tall, so proud?...

Then something happened. You were bruised...

by harsh words

by a friend's anger

by a spouces betrayal

by your own failure

by religion's rigidity.

...Painted on canvas after canvas is the tender touch of a Creator who has a special place for the bruised and weary of the world."

"The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."

Psalm 34:18

"Do not lose the courage you had in the past, which has a great reward. You must hold on, so you can do what God wants and receive what he has promised."

Hebrews 10:35-36

"LORD, even when I have trouple all around me, you will keep me alive. When my enemies are angry, you will reach down and save me by your power."

Psalm 138:7