Staying resilient when it feels like your life has been turned upside-down can feel nearly impossible. Hearing the voice of God and what His plan is for us is hard when we feel overwhelmed by what’s happening in the world around us. But it’s that very voice we have to cling to if we’re going to make it through what life throws at us. God will give us more than we can handle because He knows we need to turn to Him for guidance – and that gives us the freedom to listen to Him and weather the storms of life. He is always there to guide us forward in His plan.
We pray you find these resources helpful for staying flexible and calm in the darkest of valleys.
Bounce: Living the Resilient Life by Robert J. Wicks
Even when times get rough, there is plenty of hope for the future through God’s Word. Author Robert J. Wicks shows how stress can be an opportunity to live a more meaningful, self-aware, and compassionate life. It’s not possible to remove every single source of stress from your life, but it is possible to bounce back when it happens. Wicks presents techniques learned over thirty years of helping those in healing professions, such as nurses and therapists, and shows through the Word how to bounce back from stress and live a full life once more.
What Makes Life Worth Living by W. Phillip Keller
This book is a joyful account of what it’s like to walk in faith with Christ. In it, Phillip Keller describes his path to a confident faith and a resilient life through God. He lays out twenty-one ways, beginning with getting to know God firsthand, of how we can deepen our understanding of the joy God brings to our daily lives, and how we can use this to make ourselves resilient against whatever life can bring us. Knowing God, Keller explains, is how we can overcome challenges, deal with stresses, and recognize the blessings we all share.
A Resilient Life by Gordon MacDonald
Have you ever started up a new project or plan, excited at the beginning for the changes it would bring, only to stop short of the finish? It’s much easier to start something than to finish it, from diets to ministry plans! What is it that drives people to persevere and complete their goals? Gordon MacDonald, in this book, says it is all about resilience granted by God. Anyone can learn how to be resilient – it may not be easy, but through his own experiences and the Bible, MacDonald shows how even though the road is long, we have the strength to run the race with Christ.
Resilient by Ron Luce
The way the Christian faith is presented is important in building a strong foundation in God’s Word. When this doesn’t happen – when faith is built only on what makes a person feel good – that foundation becomes shaky and ready to crumble. Ron Luce tackles some difficult questions in this book, using Scripture to back up his analysis of how we can build a strong foundation for our faith in Christ. Through his real-life struggles in nearly losing a young daughter, the author shows how to build faith in God even if you don’t understand what He is doing through you, and how to train your faith for endurance – for resilience – rather than a short sprint.
Life can sometimes feel like it’s spinning out of control. But God’s plan is still working through us, even when we can’t see or know what the results will be. Developing a resilient faith – such as the examples in these books – will get you through both good times and bad, because it’s by relying on the Word that we can find our strength in Him.
