Resilient: Restoring Your Weary Soul in These Turbulent Times

by John Eldredge

The world keeps trying to get back to Bilbo’s party, but the story doesn’t stay there. No story does. You have to go forward to get to the party!

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit—God of all creation, God of the thunderstorm and the waterfall, I need your strength. I need the strength that prevails. I don’t want to fall away; I don’t want to lose heart. I choose you above all things. I give you my allegiance and my undivided love. I choose single-heartedness toward you, Lord Jesus—body, soul, and spirit; heart, mind, and will. I pray for a supernatural resilience, God. Fill me with your overcoming strength, a victorious strength. Father, Lord of heaven and earth, strengthen me. I pray for strength of mind, strength of heart, strength of will. I pray for the strength that allows me to escape all that is coming against the saints in this hour. Fill me with resilience. By faith I receive it and thank you for it. In Jesus’ name, amen.

We’ve got to remember, folks, that no matter how promising an idea sounds, if God’s not in it, you don’t want to be in it either. This is true of a relationship, career change, buying or selling a house, even something as simple as a vacation. We only want what Jesus is in; we only want what our Father is giving. The key test for this moment is not only “I give you my allegiance, Jesus” but also “I only want what you are doing.”

“One must descend with the mind into the heart, and there stand before the face of the Lord, ever-present, all-seeing, within you.”6

“Do not worry” is a command, not a suggestion.

Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, right and pure, lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise (Philippians 4:8). Think about something beautiful, something that reminds you of the goodness of God. A place you love. A sweet memory. Something in nature. Something that makes you smile. Now stay with that today.†

Remember—when Jesus tells us “don’t be alarmed,” “don’t let your heart be troubled,” “be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down,”13 he’s loving us and treating us like grown-ups, assuming that we can control our emotions.

But be on your guard, so that your hearts will not be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that this day will not come on you suddenly, like a trap; for it will come upon all those who live on the face of all the earth. But stay alert at all times, praying that you will have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man. (Luke 21:34–36 NASB)