The following quote is credited to a Navy Seal:
“Under pressure, you don’t rise to the occasion; you sink to the level of your training.”

Made me wonder, “What am I prepared for? What have I trained for?” And that took me back to the emotional and spiritual battle I shared with you on January 27, 2025, “Make It Go Away!”

…But tonight, I am crying,
and sniffling and pacing,
and snuggling with our little dogs who are distressed by my distress.
Because I don’t want this!
All the things that I have seen and said, “No, please, Lord”
may be, could be, indications show that
these things are very possible scenarios…

I realize that I’ve been training for this battle my whole life. I was born into a Christian family, and our faith was often a part of our conversation. I openly professed my faith at age 16, went to college, and tried to not think about it too much, but that didn’t last long. Jesus patiently waited for me to open my door to Him again, and I know He loves me and cares for me.

My January crying jag wasn’t the first. Like most of us, I’ve had my share of rough patches, and it is in situations like these that I learn more and more about God. I pay less attention to my training when life is going just peachy keen. I start to think I deserve it, like it’s all about me. But my training tells me the opposite.

Here are some of the truths that I have learned:

• I am never alone or far from God. He lives in me and walks before, beside, and behind me.
• I am totally dependent on God. I need His strength, peace, love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. I cannot find these on my own.
• I don’t have to earn salvation: it’s God’s free gift to all those who believe in Him.
• I don’t have to over-prepare, over-rehearse, and ready myself for every possible scenario. One, it’s a false kind of control. Two, I work at things, while trusting control to God.
• I do not have to fear death, because I know where I will be in eternity.

Before, during, and after my crying protest, my throwing myself on the ground like a two-year-old who isn’t getting her way, I knew that God was right there, arms outstretched, His lap ready for me when I was finally ready for comfort. I don’t know how that evening would have ended without that trust and faith. Hope comes in a lifetime of training.