Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
6 26 2026

Spoiler Alert: You don’t get an invite to life’s most defining moments, or life’s legacy crossroads.

Those are the moments you discover the depth of your faith. Yes…you are being tested, tried, pruned, and put into a position where you can run, pull your hair out, give up, or simply live in discouragement and despair. Sometimes that funk can literally paralyze you from even trying to move forward at all.

So how does the Bible help us navigate those moments? Those seasons?

I had to really dig for this one and not lean on my own understanding. And don’t we all tend to do that?
The Bible treats life transitions and crossroads not as exceptions, but as a normal pathway.
Normal?

Let that sink in for a minute…We are going through normal.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 reminds us, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”

Perhaps that is the hard part for some of us. Shifting our focus from asking why an unexpected event or season has arrived, to asking what we are meant to learn from it and how we can grow closer to God during it.

So you’ve been praying against the drip…drip…drip of fear, anger, frustration, uncertainty, and you’re coming up with nothing…or not much.

Question:     What is your definition of faith?
Hebrews tells us it is “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  
So forgive me, but what is your definition of faith?

You need to answer that.     Really.    Because you may need to reframe some things based on that scripture.

Doesn’t that mean each season, each crossroad, has its own purpose?  And this next thought may surprise you.
Beauty.

When we maintain our faith, doesn’t that mean we believe in God’s sovereignty? During these moments, isn’t that belief being tested? Romans 8:28 tells us that all things work together for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.
Doesn’t that mean we may need to anchor our identity to His unchanging character rather than the earthly events and outcomes we are facing?

Exactly how is it that we grow closer to God?

I agree, I can do that in worship services and during special moments. But we catapult into another universe of growth during hardships, tsunamis, and earthquakes…..That is where faith is exposed…..That is where it either collapses or endures.

That is where we learn to trust God and enter into His peace regardless of the wind in our face…regardless of whether we are standing at the Red Sea with Pharaoh’s army pounding down behind us.

But God.   Again and again.   But God.
What does that mean to you right now?

Isn’t another definition of God’s sovereignty simply trust?

Trusting God to work through situations and storms for His purpose. Trusting Him to illuminate your calling and direction for this season of your life. But there is a problem.  We are naturally trained to trust in what?

Bank accounts.  Jobs.  Blue skies.  Retirement plans.   Ourselves.
Isn’t that a limited understanding of what God may be trying to teach us?
Can God use those things?   Absolutely.
He has used men and women, jobs, resources, opportunities, and relationships throughout history for His purposes and His glory.

But too often we place more trust and security in those things than we do in God Himself.    Ouch.

No, you say.

I earned that money.

I built that reputation.

I created that retirement plan.

I had the vision.

I followed through.

I did it.       That’s an awful lot of “I’s.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
What does that mean to you?

Doesn’t it mean shifting our focus from demanding a detailed roadmap to building an intimate relationship of trust, taking one faithful step at a time? Yeah Dennis, easy for you to say…. No….It isn’t easy.

That’s what testing, pruning, and even chastening are all about. It hurts.

Sometimes we find ourselves saying, “I don’t understand. I’ve prayed. I’ve trusted. I’ve offered this and that. I don’t deserve this. She doesn’t deserve this.”

That isn’t a very distant place for many of us, is it?  We may not say it out loud, but if we look a little deeper, we can see that thought digging a trench inside our minds.

We just have to listen to a different voice.   God is a great place to start.  Pour it out at the foot of the cross.  Again!

I know many of you already have a trail blazed there…..Well, double down.

Enter into the peace of your faith. (Entering In?… we will have to talk about that a little deeper at another time.)

Because peace means you’ve moved beyond words… into relationship.

Moses needed Aaron and Joshua to hold up his arms so the battle could be won.

Who are your Aarons?  Who are your anchors?
Who are your soul mates beyond your spouse?

How many examples must God give us before we realize He is speaking all the time?

In His Word. Through His people. In the quiet of His presence.

But stress, fear, sickness, anger, and uncertainty are so loud that they often drown out the peace we desperately need.
We don’t like change.  At least not unless we can plan it, test it, control it, or gain from it.
We are all looking for something unchanging.  An anchor.  A legacy.   And ultimately that can only be found in Jesus.

Hebrews 13:8 reminds us, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

He is the only anchor worthy of our full trust.  The cornerstone we too often build away from.

So what is your crossroad right now?

Is it a relationship?   A career?  A health issue?

A personal struggle?  What emotions or challenges are making the decision feel hardest?

Write them down….Take them to God.

Then reach out to your God community.  It may be a small one, but knock on that door.  Be candid. Share where you are. Share how you’re stuck, limited, fearful, or damaged in moving forward.  Ask for wisdom.

Ask for perspective.  Ask for prayer.

And if they don’t know the answer, ask someone else.

If you don’t have that person, ask your pastor.

If you don’t have one…Ask me.

But most importantly, ask God into it all the way.

Blessings.

“What part of this hit home for you this morning? What are you carrying today that needs prayer?  If you’d like, send me a prayer request here. Let’s invite the Holy Spirit in together.  (where two are gathered.) You are not walking alone.  Just hit reply…
I read every response.”
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