balm for the soul

a good friend in eastern europe sent me these words today, which really encouraged me. it was exactly what i needed to hear:

as for the trials of faith you mention, i will say
what you know very well yourself. i say it
nevertheless because it’s good to be reminded of it as
often as possible: faith is tested only in those who
have it – in those who don’t there is, obviously,
nothing to test. and it’s not tested in order to
establish if it’s there and gauge its potency on the
abraham scale – as if god needed to conduct
experiments and measurings in order to find that out;
it’s tested because that’s the only way for it to
grow. that’s how it was for everybody who’s been given
the gift of it, from abraham down to you and me. this
is why i sincerely, wholeheartedly and with the best
of intentions wish you many more such trials – till,
as st. paul says, you “come in the unity of the faith,
and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect
man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness
of Christ.” (Eph 4:13)
yours,
j.

thanks, God, for the reminder through j.