Daily Strength for Daily Needs - April 6

Daily Strength for Daily Needs
Compiled by Mary W. Tileston 
April 6
In the multitude of my thoughts within me Thy comforts delight my
soul.--PS. xciv. 19.
Perplexed, but not in despair; cast down, but not destroyed_.--2 COR. iv.
8, 9.
Discouraged in the work of life,
Disheartened by its load,
Shamed by its failures or its fears,
I sink beside the road;--
But let me only think of Thee,
And then new heart springs up in me.
S. LONGFELLOW.
Discouragement is an inclination to give up all attempts after the devout
life, in consequence of the difficulties by which it is beset, and our
already numerous failures in it. We lose heart; and partly in ill-temper,
partly in real doubt of our own ability to persevere, we first grow
querulous and peevish with God, and then relax in our efforts to mortify
ourselves and to please Him. It is a sort of shadow of despair, and will
lead us into numberless venial sins the first half-hour we give way to it.
F. W. FABER.
Never let us be discouraged with ourselves; it is not when we are conscious
of our faults that we are the most wicked; on the contrary, we are less so.
We see by a brighter light; and let us remember, for our consolation, that
we never perceive our sins till we begin to cure them.
FRANÇOIS DE LA MOTHE FÉNELON.