Do not be dismayed. If we are… distress is likely to follow … The warning here is a command of utmost concern.
The ultimate difference between being dismayed and distressed is that one is to cause terror and another is to cause sorrow.
When we are dismayed (giving into terror), we make room for being distressed (giving into sorrow). And distress, is not so easy to come back from. In fact in order to do so, we have to make that trip back through the ‘land of dismay’ where we are at first encouraged not to go.
Are we distressed?
Have we submitted to the fear of dismay and ended up in the sorrowful ‘land of distress?’ If so, to turn back means we must go back through dismay once more. And this becomes an exercise of faith.
Faith is to believe. When we believe, we can hold onto this faith while confronting once more the fear in dismay that sought to cripple us at first, and eventually find the light at the end of the tunnel. But what happens when we don’t turn back? When we keep walking in the ‘land of distress?’
Distress leads to distrust …
And distrust to unbelief. Unbelief is the opposite of faith and is sometimes the point of no return. Once we are here any final slivers of hope will be excruciatingly painful to find, if even possible.
So first we have dismay, then comes distress, which is the kind of sorrow that can breed distrust, eventually leading to unbelief. And in the end, we have been robbed of faith, which was our only way out to begin with.
So, how do we come out of being distressed?
By turning back, equipped with faith, to conquer the dismay that lead us there. We must ask for the way out. This is where the rubber meets the road. After all, we were allowed to get in that place to begin with. Now is the time to find out what we are truly made of.
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Are you ready for a way out?
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