I remember my affliction and my wandering,
    the bitterness and the gall.
20 I well remember them,
    and my soul is downcast within me.
21 Yet this I call to mind
    and therefore I have hope:

22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
    therefore I will wait for him.”

The words of Jeremiah may well reflect his time in the dungeon. Even there, a change of mind changed everything. After writing yesterday’s piece, I found three highly relevant quotes in my journal from 2nd December last year, and I felt I couldn’t move on without sharing them:

‘A Christian should be joyful, if he’s not, the devil is tempting him.’ Martin Luther.

‘Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.’ Henri Nouwen.

‘Redirection: When thoughts come about how bad your life is, or hard your life is, or unfair your life is – and those thoughts come a lot! – you redirect your mind, which is best described as directed attention, to what you are grateful for.’ John Mark Comer.