Thou art never at any time nearer to God than when under tribulation; which He permits for the purification and beautifying of thy soul!

May 11, 2026

Thou art never at any time nearer to God than when under tribulation; which He permits for the purification and beautifying of thy soul!

Thou art never at any time nearer to God than when under tribulation; which He permits for the purification and beautifying of thy soul.

—M. De Molinos

I thank God for my handicaps, for, through them, I have found myself, my work, and my God.

—Helen Keller

As we live our lives, we need to remember that sometimes it takes suffering and hardship for our spiritual eyes to be fully opened to God's plan for all of us. Tribulation sometimes is necessary as it brings growth and without it we would never grow and beautify so to speak. I read a story today about someone who as worried about a caterpillar in a cocoon, he thought they needed some help in coming out, as it seemed like it was taking too long as he was watching it. He made a mistake of helping the caterpillar and cut the cocoon some, but it really ended up hurting the caterpillar. The caterpillar needed the tribulation, needed to fight more so to strengthen his les and wings so it could fly, the assistance of the man, hurt the caterpillar's ability to be able to fly. We all face hard times, stress, hate, negativity, unfairness, etc. But often we look at it as something negative, when it really is all a blessing as it is helping us grow as people to be better people, to be closer to God! To be maybe more like Jesus, reflecting, imitating, and loving like Him! Hard times and tribulation permit us to purify and beautify our souls!