“When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry. He went up to the entrance of the king’s gate, for no one was allowed to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth. And in every province, wherever the king’s command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes.”
‭‭Esther‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Sometimes, to get to the victory at the end of the story, you have to go through a period of lament and weeping. It’s not just a snap-your-fingers-and-we-win kind of thing. The pain we endure through the process is necessary at times. But if we can endure the pain, we can enjoy the prize at the end with a sweeter victory. I want to encourage you this month to hang in there, the pain through the process could be just what is necessary for the victory itself. God bless, and Happy New Year. 

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