Standing firm in the face of fear

And we . . . have to trudge over roads where circumstances just shriek against our creeds. We have heard the divine word, but the 'not likely' stares upon us on every side. And common sense is very aggressive, and it rears itself against the promise of our God. And the gathered wisdom of the world obtrudes itself against the hidden wisdom of the Lord. Our material setting is unfriendly. Carnal forces are ironical in their easy triumph. And we begin to look foolish in our simple faith . . . Never was there greater need of deep-living men and women who will confront the proud and massed 'unlikelies' with the spoken promise of our God. Never was the need more urgent that we should confirm ourselves in the promise amid the uncomfortable irony of circumstances, and the loud and blatant taunt of our foes. We must wear the word of the Lord like an athlete's belt! 'Having your loins girt about with truth' (Ephesians 6:15). These are the men and women who remain victors on the field at the end of the long and bloody day. At the beginning of day theirs is the faith which gives substance to things hoped for; at the end of the day the things hoped for have become their eternal possession.
--- John Henry Jowett in LIFE IN THE HEIGHTS