Advent 6

Adam has a deep mine of quotes from old, dead preachers. He puts them in the church bulletin each week. One I clipped out and have kept in my Bible, finding it often and re-reading it. It made me weepy when I first read it years ago, and it made me weepy again this morning.

I'll paraphrase the quote to make it more understandable. Some of the vocabulary is rather opaque.

"Think of but one aspect of affliction -- the tension of the emotions. The exhaustion consequent on the unceasing strain upon our emotions is the hardest of all things to bear.
"It opens the door to all manner of temptations. It is the crucial test of fortitude. Now, the type of emotional stress has much more to do with the exhaustion of the nervous system than the quantity ... Just as we need human sympathy, assurances of human friendship and love, more at some times than at others, so we need the Consoler, and to this varying want He adapts Himself in the infinitude of His power and tenderness."

- C. Lipscomb

Each time I read it, I'm overwhelmed at the thought of the Holy Spirit, tenderly evaluating my state, adapting Himself to my weakness and need, giving me just the love and care I require at that moment. That is the type of gentle, attentive love the Christian can expect from God. Isn't it wonderful?