“The search for holiness isn’t pink and gauzy; it’s tough and gritty. We don’t pretend not to be angry when we’re angry; we surrender our anger into the hands of God and tell Him we’re willing not to be.

We don’t deny our tears when we’ve been abandoned or betrayed; we pray for the happiness of the person who hurt us, as an act of generosity toward ourselves. We don’t pretend that we’re not afraid or lonely; we place our fear and loneliness in God’s hands. All of this is a process and none of it is easy. Many tears have lined the paths of saints.

But God is with us during the difficult times as much as during any other. As we walk through the darkest nights of our souls, we are bolstered, should we care to be, by the power of faith that we are not alone.”

Excerpt From: Williamson, Marianne. “Tears to Triumph.”