The following article was originally published on September 21, 2016. It received a tremendous amount of feedback, and we hope that it will once again be a blessing to you.

Life is filled with ups and downs. Every true Christian knows that we have a great reward waiting for us on the other side and the joy of our salvation should always be first in our minds, but sometimes the enemy is able to steal that joy away.

King David wrote in the Psalms, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit" (Psalm 51:10-12).

The prophet Isaiah wrote, "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted." (Isaiah 12:2-14)

And Habakkuk gives us this encouragement in a time of despair, "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places..."

Obviously, those great men had gone through hard times and knew what it was to both suffer and find peace in the Lord. A sister sent in the following poem with the hope that it might encourage some of us when the joy of our salvation has been a little clouded over by the cares of the world. 

When life is hard with no help around
and Satan says to lay it all down,
for no one cares anyhow.

Something inside that still small voice says,
"Don't worry my child
you have made the better choice."

This soon will pass and My Glory you will see,
because you are part of the Bride Tree.
I have given you this test for all men to see,
that My Word will last through Eternity.

Low you may feel, alone it may seem,
but I am just molding you to be like Me.
Help is always a heart cry away
and I will never let you fall astray.

I the Master know how much you can take
and will not allow the enemy to you break.
He is on a leash, fastened to My hand
and has to ask Me first before he devises his plan.

So keep praising and I will bring you through
and I will show the whole world what I have formed you too.

God bless you all,

Sister Angelese