Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/0373

0373 Purpose of suffering - Trials.... Lethargy of the spirit....

April 11, 1938: Book 8

Many things in life discourage the human being.... it is like a bond which binds the heart of such a person. Time and again doubts in the goodness and mercy of God arise when grief and suffering occur too often.... and yet they only give you an inner maturity which otherwise would take much longer to achieve. And since your earthly life only lasts a short time it is necessary that such depressing or painful occurrences must take place frequently and sometimes one after another so that you may derive blessings from them, that you look upon your life earnestly and carefully and that your desire turns more and more away from the world and its attractions, which are a serious danger to you. Life often seems unbearable for the individual, sometimes such an earthly child tires and loses heart.... it drifts without making any effort to change this discouraged existence. And yet it would be so easy for you as soon as the right attitude towards God shows you the way you have to go. But consider the many seemingly insurmountable obstacles in your life.... would you have escaped from them if you had not been given help from above every time....

But you do not always recognise this help as sent from above, yet every occurrence is a flow of God’s grace.... whether good or bad.... it always has the same purpose: to have a refining effect on you, My earthly children. If you can see in every test a means of improvement then you will also recognise your own shortcomings and failures, and with this recognition comes the quiet will to overcome them.... Then every trial has already served its purpose.... and therefore you must realise in every difficult situation that they are necessary to achieve a higher degree of maturity.... that they are steps on the ladder which leads the soul to perfection, so to speak. A life without struggle would only mean to stay on the same level, however, the battle against oneself is far more difficult to carry out than the battle against enemies who approach the human being from outside.

Every awakening from the lethargy of the spirit is a step forward.... the alert human being will remember his spirit and not let it starve, for lethargy is a relapse and cannot be called ‘enlivening’ in any way, it will defeat every urge to be active and can never have a beneficial influence on the soul. Therefore do not be alarmed when life’s difficulties seem hard to bear.... if they make you aware of your shortcomings and you fight them then they will disappear again in not too long a time, for the Lord only allows such trials until they have served their purpose and improved the heart of the human being. Because it is not His will that you should suffer except that through this you are made worthy of everlasting joy....

Amen

Translated by Heidi Hanna