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'Desolation is any feeling of anger, depression, discouragement or inner turmoil. Sometimes it may be a feeling of malaise, not a specific feeling or reaction, just inner discomfort or dis-ease. ...there is no more significant counsel...than this: never make a decision or change a course of action when you are in desolation. Never. ...Desolation, in its various expressions, is never from God. God may permit it (as he did for Job and Jeremiah and others), but God never causes it. Therefore do not make a decision in desolation. Never resign from a position or organization when you are angry or afraid. Do not discontinue a program of study because of discouragement or abandon a time set aside for prayer because of restlessness. At such times we are not emotionally in a state when we can choose well. In desolation we should not change our course of action or make a decision. This does not mean that we will not feel disappointment in a decision. you may feel profound sadness in deciding to resign from a position or shed tears in making a decision that will cause pain to others but that you know is right. But the decision itself must be made in peace - not anger, not frustration, not in a state of discouragement.' (Gordon Smith, 'Listening to God in Times of Choice: The Art of Discerning God's Will' pp 52-55)