Judith 8:24-27. Judith exhorts Uzziah and the rulers to stand firm in the face of the blockade of the city. She says they must set an example, for the people's lives are depending on them, as is the fate of the sanctuary, temple, and altar. "In spite of everything," she says "let us give thanks to the Lord our God, who is putting us to the test as he did our forefathers." She reminds them how Abraham and Jacob were tested by God, as He is now testing them. For "the Lord scourges those who draw near to him, in order to admonish them."

I can attest to this! As I have been getting closer to God over these last few years, sometimes the number and extent of temptations, provocations, sufferings, and just overwhelming sadness I have experienced astounds me. At one point I was in such anguish that I couldn't get off the couch for hours. But then thoughts like Judith's came to me - "Get up and move on with life. Try your best to do God's will, even if no one sees it, or understands what you are doing or why, even if they assign false motives to you and malign you. And, in spite of everything, give thanks to the Lord." So I did and I got through the (hopefully!!) worst of it, and now I see why it had to happen. I had so many attachments that I just would not have given up willingly unless I was brought to the point of having no other choice. Even my family, whom I love dearly, had become an attachment to me - I was sacrificing my own peace and my obligations to God in order to maintain family harmony. God did not want me to do this, it was bad for me and for them. So I distanced myself, or accepted the distance others had imposed, even though it caused me tremendous pain.

That situation has not resolved itself fully yet, but I know but I know it was the right thing to do. I am beginning to see glimmers of the good that might come from it, but even if it does not, I myself am so much closer to and reliant upon God than I ever have been. It is a tremendous blessing, and I do give thanks to the Lord in spite of everything!