True Resolve Under Severe Testing

Oh how I love little nuggets of wisdom in the form of acronyms!  (So much easier for my mom-brain to hang on to!)

FEAR= False Evidence Appearing Real

TRUST= True Resolve Under Severe Testing

This from Women of Grace founder, Johnnette Benkovic's, WOG Blog:

Jesus tells us in Mark 5:36, “Fear is useless. What is needed is trust.”

...God waits to act so that He can prove to us that He is worthy of our trust, and that even our worst moment is imbued with His presence. He does not want us to fear; He wants us to trust.

Morbid fear is a paralyzing fear. It gets us in its grip and holds us fast. It is one of the great ploys of Satan. And he seeks to use it liberally.

Morbid fear incapacitates us. It saps us of our spiritual strength and resolve. It plants doubt in our hearts and takes our eyes off of Jesus Who is our liberator.

Jesus gives us the antidote to morbid fear. It is trust. Trust in Him. Trust is fear’s antidote; it is its remedy. 

I know about morbid fear. After my son, Simon, was killed in a vehicular accident, I was fearful that I could lose my daughters as well. A friend, who had also lost a child, spoke to me about my fear and told me that fear is False Evidence Appearing Real.”  He encouraged me to trust in God and to know that He was with me.

I was grateful for his counsel and I learned a lot about practicing trust in those early months of my grief. I learned that trust is True Resolve Under Severe Testing. And I learned that it is a spiritual muscle developed by faith in God and His providence especially in those moments of dire need.

True resolve under severe testing — this acronym, and the truth it conveys, may well be what is needed as we move forward into these next four years. Can we do it on our own? Definitely not. But with God — all things are possible. May we hold fast to the truth; may we preach the Word in season and out; and may we remain firm and steadfast in hope.