Words are utterly inadequate to express my gratitude to you and to “Withheld.” Your article came at a time when faith is uppermost in my mind and I strain to cling to the iron rod with both hands. You have shared so many thoughts that answer my feeble fear! This is not the first of your articles to answer a prayer of mine. You have allowed your unimaginable pain to build spiritual character, and the things you have learned along the way are strengthening and hope-giving! Thank you for your testimony. Thank your for letting God use you as an instrument in his hands. How many lives have you blessed? I will try to be more accepting and trusting! I will see these trials as the reason we are here, not as detours from what “should be” or punishments for my weakness. I will trust that God is more powerful than my failures. Thank you for so much beauty and insight in one article.
Arlene BascomFebruary 12, 2018
Darla, I have never read a more complete definition and explanation of what faith is and how we can increase our faith than in this article. Thank you for your marvelous insights and beautiful ways of helping us to see how they apply to our personal lives. I am grateful that you are so widely read that you can bring so many perspectives into one article. I am going to print this article so that I can re-read it anytime.
WithheldFebruary 12, 2018
Thank you so much for your insights. I have been in my own struggle with faith as I deal with my wife's mental illness. I loved your analogy of the rope. It has been resting at my feet in a nice, ordered coil all of my life, but I am now indeed hanging from it over a frightening precipice.
I learned that I was believing many false principles that had created unrealistic expectations which in turn were turning my heart against God. One day I realized that I was not loving God, the first and great commandment. I recognized that I needed to reevaluate some of the principles I had picked up over time and my interpretation of scriptures because they were coming into conflict with my ability to love and trust God. That realization has led to some amazing insights concerning God, choice and the conditions of our mortal probation. Facing a world without the assurances of my previous truths and expectations was frightening, but it has given me an unexpected insight—I realized that God had faith in me, that I could deal with these trials successfully. That changed everything, knowing that God believed in my ability to hold on to the rope of faith made living in my new chaotic world doable and now every new challenge has become an assertion in my Father's confidence in me and in turn my confidence in Him.
Comments | Return to Story
ViolaFebruary 12, 2018
Words are utterly inadequate to express my gratitude to you and to “Withheld.” Your article came at a time when faith is uppermost in my mind and I strain to cling to the iron rod with both hands. You have shared so many thoughts that answer my feeble fear! This is not the first of your articles to answer a prayer of mine. You have allowed your unimaginable pain to build spiritual character, and the things you have learned along the way are strengthening and hope-giving! Thank you for your testimony. Thank your for letting God use you as an instrument in his hands. How many lives have you blessed? I will try to be more accepting and trusting! I will see these trials as the reason we are here, not as detours from what “should be” or punishments for my weakness. I will trust that God is more powerful than my failures. Thank you for so much beauty and insight in one article.
Arlene BascomFebruary 12, 2018
Darla, I have never read a more complete definition and explanation of what faith is and how we can increase our faith than in this article. Thank you for your marvelous insights and beautiful ways of helping us to see how they apply to our personal lives. I am grateful that you are so widely read that you can bring so many perspectives into one article. I am going to print this article so that I can re-read it anytime.
WithheldFebruary 12, 2018
Thank you so much for your insights. I have been in my own struggle with faith as I deal with my wife's mental illness. I loved your analogy of the rope. It has been resting at my feet in a nice, ordered coil all of my life, but I am now indeed hanging from it over a frightening precipice. I learned that I was believing many false principles that had created unrealistic expectations which in turn were turning my heart against God. One day I realized that I was not loving God, the first and great commandment. I recognized that I needed to reevaluate some of the principles I had picked up over time and my interpretation of scriptures because they were coming into conflict with my ability to love and trust God. That realization has led to some amazing insights concerning God, choice and the conditions of our mortal probation. Facing a world without the assurances of my previous truths and expectations was frightening, but it has given me an unexpected insight—I realized that God had faith in me, that I could deal with these trials successfully. That changed everything, knowing that God believed in my ability to hold on to the rope of faith made living in my new chaotic world doable and now every new challenge has become an assertion in my Father's confidence in me and in turn my confidence in Him.
ADD A COMMENT