Radiant in a Dungeon

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: When she was in her fifties, the nineteenth-century writer Elizabeth Prentiss found out her husband had gotten a new job. She’d have to be uprooted from her home in New York and move to Chicago. It meant leaving a lot of friends, and the move would be dangerous to her fragile health.

Here’s what Elizabeth wrote in a letter to a friend:

Elizabeth Prentiss: Place and position have next to nothing to do with happiness. We can be wretched in a palace, radiant in a dungeon. Perhaps this heartbreaking is exactly what we need to remind us that we are pilgrims and strangers on earth.”

Nancy: Maybe you’re facing a big, difficult change. Remember, true joy doesn’t come from our circumstances; it comes from our relationship with the Lord. He can help you be radiant today, even if you feel like you’re in a dungeon.

With Seeking Him, I’m Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth.